


Intro to Friendship: 101

by WritingCrow



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, trans!Hordak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:21:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24367240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingCrow/pseuds/WritingCrow
Summary: Real World/University AUI need fluff to heal my soul, so I'm writing it.Entrapta makes a friend.Hordak learns that he can be loved for his imperfections, not just in spite of them.
Relationships: Entrapta & Hordak (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 125
Kudos: 259





	1. Left Behind

Entrapa was at a party.  
She had not been to many parties but the data she had gathered during this experience was enough to convince herself that she did not enjoy them.

The music was too loud, which in itself wouldn’t be too bad, but the mass of overlapping voices, talking, shouting, blending together into a horrible mish mash of noise was enough to make her need to duck into the bathroom and listen to white noise on her phone to stop herself spinning out.

And she had just emerged from the bathroom to find her ‘friends’ gone.  
She was completely alone in a house full of strangers.

Entrapta was about a third of the way through her first year at Brightmoon University and she was starting to feel a little disappointed.

She loved being in such an esteemed place of learning. The library and the unis other resources were amazing and even though a lot of the intro classes were covering material she had familiarised herself with years ago, they were interesting enough to hold her focus.

But when she had left home the thing her parents seemed to be most excited about was for her to make friends.

Growing up as a genius in a small country town hadn’t done her many favours, she didn’t mind the isolation, but her parents had always been worried.

Now that she was heading off to the big city they seemed convinced that she would find people that ‘understood’ her.

She had made a few friends, or at least that's what she assumed they were.

She had met Bow and Adora in her Ancient Civilisation class. They both seemed nice, Bow was intelligent and friendly. And while Adora originally seemed like a bit of a ‘Jock’, Entrapa soon discovered that she had some of the same ‘social difficulties’ that she had.

They had bonded over working on their group project together, though Entrapta couldn’t help but note that she seemed to be contributing 86% of the work.  
She didn't mind though, it was more efficient that way.

Bow and Adora had introduced her to the rest of their friends and they were all… nice.  
But she didn’t feel like part of the group, just, a hanger on.

Everyone always got an expression Entrapta had interpreted as negative when she started to talk so she had stopped. She just listened to them talk about things, lost in her own thoughts.

She had been excited for the party at first, her knowledge of pop culture had led her to believe that this was where she would really start to bond with her new friends. 

But that had not been the case. Instead she was still on the edges, like always.  
And now she was alone completely.

She could feel her chest getting tight as she looked around the house. Everyone seemed happy and comfortable, all deep in their own conversations. They all seemed like they belonged.

Quietly she moved around the edge of the room and found a small nook in between a bookcase and a cupboard to sink down into. She had no idea how to get home from here and her phone was dead so she decided she would just wait for someone to come and get her.  
Surely they would realise they had forgotten her and they were her ride home and come back for her.

She found herself flipping through the books next to her. Her hands tended to wander when she was anxious.  
Art book, vampire romance, sci-fi novel, bible, she stopped as she felt herself grab a slim notebook. It was filled with slightly shaky technical drawings of simple robots.

Entrapta felt her heartbeat settle slightly, the loud noises around her fading slightly as she focused.  
The concepts were interesting and seemed to have a sound technical base but there were some errors so glaring that she couldn’t help but pull out a pen and start making notes and alterations.

“CATRAAAA!!”

Entrapta wasn’t sure when she had fallen asleep but she was awake now. Still tucked into her little nook.

There was a young man standing in the room, he was very tall and quite thin, with a particularly giant, unhealthy looking face and short dark purple hair.

And he was holding the notebook she had been writing in.

“ONE OF YOUR STUPID FRIENDS HAS BEEN MESSING WITH MY STUFF!”

Entrapta tried to sink down into the floor. She had done something wrong, something very wrong by the look on the mans’ face.

“SHUT UP!!!” A woman shrieked back. Entrapta looked over as she stumbled into the room holding her head. Her name was Catra she remembered, it had been her party they were at.  
“Just, keep it down” she groaned “No one cares about your stupid stuff!”

The young mans’ face was turning red and one of his eyes was twitching as he glared at Catra.  
He opened his mouth to yell again and Entrapta spoke up quickly, closing her eyes and flinching at the expected tirade.

“That was me”

The young man glared at her “What?”

Entrapta realised her voice had been little more than a squeak and she tried to speak up a bit more clearly. “I wrote in your book.”

The young man glared at her a little longer and then seemed to deflate a little, the colour going out of his face.  
“Don’t ever touch my work again” he hissed, his shoulders drooping as he turned around and stormed out of the room.

“I’m sorry” Entrapta whispered

“Urgh, don’t worry about him” Catra groaned, spreading herself out on the couch “That's just my shitty housemate Hordak”  
Her voice raised in pitch a little, taking on a mocking tone “he’s just a nasty little baby who doesn't even DO HIS DISHES!”  
She aimed the last few words at the door Hordak had left through.

“That’s no trouble!” a happy voice piped up from somewhere in the house “Just gives me more to stay busy with”

Catra rolled her eyes at Entrapta and grinned, flapping her hand like a mouth

“Busy hands, happy heart! That’s what my mums used to say” the voice continued.

“You need to stop being such a pushover Scorpia” Catra laughed “Also is my breakfast ready yet?” her smile slowly faded as she looked at Entrapta “Wait a second, who the fuck are you and what are you still doing here?”

Entrapta tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace “Oh, I’m Entrapta, I was here with my friends, they drove me aaaand then they left and I’m still here and my phone is dead so…”

Catra groaned again, shutting Entrapta up with a wave “Whatever, just don’t expect breakfast, you aren’t a guest”

“Do we have a guest?!” Scorpias voice boomed from the other room “How many eggs do you want?”

“Ahhh… how large are the eggs?” Entrapta called back, sliding out of her nook and crawling towards the other room, trying to avoid Catras line of sight.

Scorpia, she quickly learned, was lovely. She was a giant of a woman with rather imposing muscles, but a very warm smile.  
She also learned that she was in her third year of a sociology course, she was here on a sports scholarship (hockey), she was a scorpio, her favourite colour was pink and she thought Catra was amazing although she wished she and Hordak would get along better.

Scorpia liked to talk a lot. Entrapta barely managed to get a word in but after Scorpia happily cut the eggs and toast up into tiny bites for her she decided to mark her down as a possible friend.

Scorpia let Entrapta borrow her charger and they sat down to eat, at least she and Scorpia did, Catra took her breakfast wordlessly and stomped off to her room, saying something about Scorpia being too loud for her hangover.

After a little while Hordak came back and sat down in front of the plate Scorpia had made for him.

Entrapta tried to sink down in her chair, staring at her eggs intensely, hoping she wouldn’t get yelled at again.

To her surprise he spoke softly “My behaviour before was… rude.”

Entrapta glanced up but he didn't try to make eye contact

“I read your… alterations. And they were…” he paused for a moment, a small amount of colour creeping into his pale cheeks “Excellent. I wonder if you could review some of them for me”

“You’d like me to explain them to you?” Entrapta asked, surprised

Hordak scowled “Not explain, I understand it all perfectly, just… some parts were unreadable. I would appreciate it if you clarified them.”

Entrapta beamed happily “My parents always said my handwriting was messy because I think too fast, I tried to improve it, but it’s never really mattered if anyone else could read my writing and all of my assignments are on computer anyway so I decided it wasn’t an efficient use of my time”

Hordak nodded patiently, placing the notebook on the table and sliding it towards Entrapta.

“Hordaaak” Scorpia was holding her face in her hands, smiling like her face was about to split in half “Are you making a friend?”

Hordak shot a withering look at Scorpia “I am merely consulting, getting competent feedback is always helpful.”

Entrapta couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as he dismissed the possibility of friendship, but her excitement at getting to explain something to a willing victim was enough to brush past it.

Entrapta snatched up the notebook and quickly leaped into a detailed breakdown of her additions.  
She half expected Hordak to get bored and tell her to shut up, but he just sat there, listening intently, occasionally asking pertinent questions.

Even Scorpia tried to listen for a little while, but she soon fell asleep, letting out a rather pleasant rumble that reminded Entrapta of her father's tractor.

They stayed that way for quite a while, once they finished the notebook they kept going, talking about servos and motors and just how much virtual intelligence you could cram onto an arduino.

Entrapta had honestly never talked to another person for this long before. Hordak seemed to be an excellent listener, not trying to interrupt her even when she spiraled off into a rambling rant, occasionally making the small noises and nods that Entrapta understood were meant to convey that he was paying attention.

And he didn’t even seem to be insulted by her lack of eye contact.  
Entraptas parents had taught her to look at a person's chin or forehead to simulate such contact, but she often forgot when she got excited by a subject.

She didn’t realise just how long they had been talking until Catra came wandering back into the room, yawning and stretching.

“Christ on a stick” she grumbled, drawing a sharp glare from Hordak “Are you still here?”

“Catra, please be more polite to…” Hordak stared at Entrapta for a few seconds, his cheeks flushing before staring down at the table “goodness…I never asked your name”

Catra threw back her head and laughed, clutching her sides “Oh Hordey, spent all day together and you don't even know her name? What's next? Holding hands before marriage?”

“I’m Entrapta!” Entrapta said quickly, glancing at the window to notice the long shadows. They really had spent all day talking, it had barely felt like an hour.

Catra moved behind Hordak who was now resting his face in his hands “So, is Entrapta staying the night?” She grinned a toothy grin as she drew Entraptas name out, leaning closer to Hordak and speaking in a loud stage whisper “I can sit outside your door with a shotgun in case you get any urges”

Hordak leapt to his feet, taking a half hearted swing at Catra who dodged it easily, letting out another peal of laughter.

“Shut up!!” he growled, visibly shaking as she snatched his notebook from the table and turned his back on them “I… Thankyou, Entrapta… I should go now”

“Do you need some tissues?” Catra called after him as he hurried out of the room “Or a sock?” she snorted loudly, seemingly very amused with herself.

“Bye” Entrapta said quietly, sinking down in her chair as Catra turned her stare on her.  
Her mismatched eyes drilling into Entrapta like a cat watching a mouse.

“You gonna follow him?” Catras tone seemed friendly but it still made Entrapta feel uncomfortable. Unconsciously she reached up to put her visor down, feeling horribly exposed when she realised she wasn't wearing it. It wasn’t ‘appropriate party wear’ Bows friend Glimmer had said.

“I think I should… leave,” Entrapta said carefully.

“Good choice” Catra watched Entrapta closely as she found her phone and ordered an Uber to take her home.

It would take a while to arrive, but she hurried outside to wait for it, not wanting to be subjected to that stare any longer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entrapta conducts some 'research' on her new friend.

Entrapta found herself collapsing into bed almost the instant she got home.  
She had been so absorbed in her talk with Hordak she had completely forgotten just how stressful and draining the previous night had been, and just how badly she had slept. But all that came crashing over her like a wave as she settled down in the car on her way home.

She felt like she should have been more frustrated to have lost an entire day of study, but it all seemed worth it somehow, even the awful party.

She slept well. Wrapped up in her thick, heavy blankets, with her soft toys standing guard at the end of her bed, her dreams buzzing with ideas.

Waking early, she decided to use the time before she had to head to classes to rebalance her study plan, making up for the lost hours of the previous sunday.

Normally she would be excited to break out all the highlighters and fancy gel pens, but she found her mind wandering back to Hordak.

She really didn’t know much about him, he had let her dominate the conversation completely and she felt a little guilty that she hadn’t asked any questions about him or made the ‘small talk’ that you were supposed to with new friends.

Putting aside her planner she flipped open her laptop. She needed more data, and a bit of social media stalking was the perfect way to get it!

Bow and Adora had explained to her that it was a little ‘creepy’ to research people like that, but she just found it so much easier than trying to navigate the labyrinth of expressions and tones that came with face to face contact.

She had already been thoroughly embarrassed by failing to pick up on sarcasm quite a few times. And while she had started to get used to the jokes at her expense that came from her confusion, she found she really wanted to make a good impression with Hordak.

As such, it was with growing annoyance that she found absolutely nothing.  
She found a blurry photo with him in the background on Catras instagram, the comments of which gave her his last name ‘Prime’. But apart from that, he seemed to have no social media of any kind.

She did however find a very large amount of results for ‘Horde’ Prime. News articles, videos, tv appearances.  
He seemed to be some kind of pastor, the leader of the ‘Church of the Assembled Host’, and his photos certainly bore a resemblance to Hordak so she supposed he might be his father, though, for as well publicised as the man's life seemed to be, she couldn’t see any mention of him having a son.  
The closest she got was an old photo of him standing with his wife and a small girl, perhaps Hordaks sister?

Entrapta had a rather skeptical view of religion, but her parents had been quite religious and she had been required to attend church with them.  
It wasn't all bad, she had even enjoyed some of the songs and the pastor had been a very nice old man who always talked to Entrapta like she was an adult.

Perhaps this would be a good way to initiate casual conversation!

Excited to learn more, Entrapta clicked on one of the videos and instantly flinched back.

Horde Prime was standing on a stage in what looked more like a football stadium than a church, bellowing about sin and depravity with such sheer vitriol and hatred that not even Entrapta could misread it.  
She quickly closed the laptop, her ears ringing.

Entrapta didn’t get much done for the rest of the morning.  
She had to organise all her tools three times to settle herself down. First alphabetically, then by colour, then mass.

She was glad to head to classes, settling back into a comfortable rhythm.

Once she had a break for lunch she headed down to the largest of the campus’ food courts. It was always a little louder than she liked, but it had the best dumplings, which despite being decidedly un-cute, fit the rest of her dietary particulars.

She was looking for a place to eat when she spotted a familiar tuft of purple hair.  
Hordak was sitting by himself in the corner, pushing some food around his plate.

Entrapta started to head towards him when a loud voice boomed over the chatter.  
“ENTRAPTA! HEY!”

Entrapta winced a little in embarrassment as people looked at her.  
Adora was waving at her excitedly, sitting at a table with Bow and some of their other friends.  
She put her head down and hurried over to their table.

As soon as she sat down the others resumed their conversation, seemingly forgetting she existed.  
Adora was talking about the party on the weekend, her tone seemed to imply annoyance but her words were at odds with that.

“I’m Catra! I’m hot now! Oooohhhh look at me I’m ignoring you! Look how perfectly messy my gorgeous hair is!”

Entrapta stared over at Hordak as she ate her dumplings, tuning out the conversation..  
Was that man really his father?  
She remembered the anger on Hordaks face when she first woke up, the way he yelled at Catra. Was there some of that hatred in him?

She had never regretted learning anything new before, well, except for that time she found out how ducks mated, but she felt like maybe she shouldn’t have looked that up.

“Oh my god, is Entrapta staring at lemon boy?”

Entrapta was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard her name.  
Everyone was looking at her and she flipped down her visor, trying to shield herself from their stares.

“She was! OMG!” Mermista was the one talking. Entrapta didn’t really like her. Not because she was mean, she just often said things she didn’t mean and expected people to understand that.

“Lemon boy?” she asked, confused

“Catras shitty housemate!” Mermista pointed over towards Hordak.

“Lemon boy??” Entrapta repeated, still very confused.

She conjured a mental image of Hordak and a lemon, trying to draw the comparison.  
Shape? Colour? Taste? Well, she didn’t know what he tasted like.

Mermista groaned “‘Cause he’s always got that look on his face, like he’s sucking a lemon”

“Oh. So you know him?”

“Not really” Mermista shrugged “He came to this Queer students group thing last year”

“Ohhh…” Entrapta processed this information, slightly confused by the disappointment she felt “So hes… Gay?”

“Are you seriously interested?” Mermista cackled

Perfuma leaned forwards, smiling comfortingly at Entrapta “We don’t actually know, he only came to one meeting and he didn’t really talk to anyone”

“Too busy sucking lemons!” Mermista added, still laughing.

“How do you know him?” Adora asked, shooting Mermista a glare but failing to hide her smile “is he in one of your classes?”

“Oh no, after you left me at the party on saturday I had to sleep there and I met him in the morning” Entrapta said happily, glad to move away from the previous topic “He was actually really nice, so was Scorpia. I think Catra is nice as well, when she forgets to be mean.”

The table fell silent and Entrapta went back to her dumplings, not noticing the looks they were shooting at each other.

“Wait, left you?!” Adora raised her voice, glaring at Bow “You said she went home!”

“I thought she did!” Bow winced, looking genuinely upset “I looked for her everywhere, and I tried to call her”

“Entrapta”

She looked up confused as Adora put a hand on her shoulder “I’m so sorry, Catra and I kinda had a fight and she kicked us out, we really thought you went home by yourself”

“Thats okay” Entrapta shifted to the side to escape Adoras touch “I’m sure you had more important things to worry about. And Scorpia made me tiny eggs!” She lifted her visor so she could whisper to Adora “They were just normal eggs, but she cut them up really small”

She smiled but Adora still seemed uncomfortable.

Entrapta felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and jumped to her feet, tucking the last two dumplings into the ziplock bag she kept in one of her overalls pockets.

“I have to go now”

She glanced over at where Hordak had been but he was gone. She hoped he hadn’t heard them talking.

Adora called after her but she didn’t really register it. She had a much busier schedule than to others and didn’t have time to waste on difficult conversations.

The rest of the day went as normal, but Entraptas' mind kept wandering.  
She had been thinking about Hordaks designs and had a burst of inspiration on how to balance one of them.  
As soon as she got out of her lecture she went to text Hordak when she realised she hadn’t gotten his number.

She allowed herself a moment of frustration before considering the situation.  
Clearly Hordak would have given her his contact information if they hadn’t been disrupted, therefore if she were to obtain that information by other means it wouldn’t be overstepping any bounds.

Satisfied with her conclusion she hurried off to the library.

It was quite easy to access the Universities administration server. To call it ‘hacking’ would be far too generous, half of the professors passwords were ‘password123’, so finding Hordaks details didn't take long.

Contact number, email, home address (she already knew that one of course). She restrained herself from getting his timetable, that seemed a little too ‘stalkery’.  
But she was about to log off when she noticed that he was part of the Engineering club, or the ‘Second Engineering Club’? Entrapta supposed it must have been so popular they made two.

She had wanted to join that club but her schedule was far too full for any extra curricular activities, still she felt pleased at the confirmation of their shared interests.

She should have assumed that he was a part of some such group, he seemed far too intelligent and interested in practical robotics not to be. But, she realised this also provided an opportunity for a more ‘organic’ meeting!

She would simply head down to the clubroom, ‘bump into’ him there and then they would spend the rest of the day talking and tinkering! It was perfect!

She felt a brief pang of guilt about all the assignments she should be pre-pre-preparing for, but she was a few weeks ahead of the curriculum already, she could treat herself to one free afternoon.

Already excited by the prospect she grabbed her things and skipped off towards the Second Engineering Clubs room, almost taking out a couple of students as she couldn't help but throw out a few little twirls as she went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemon boy ( [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-itZVX-SUkI](url) ) is a song that gives me major Entrapdak feels.


	3. Imperfections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entrapta discovers Hordaks secret 'sanctum' and what a nerd he is.

The clubroom was not what Entrapta had expected.

She had seen pictures of the Engineering club in the Unis brochures, it was a huge, open plan workshop, full of projects.

The ‘Second Engineering Club’s workspace was a little space tucked away on the basement floor that looked like it used to be a storeroom.

But still, the shelves were lined with carefully ordered parts, there were adequate powerpoints and ventilation and the large workbench had a number of projects laid out on it, all in scandalously intriguing states of disassembly.

Hordak was, however absent.

Entrapta decided to wait for him, and in her defence, she managed to last a good five minutes before giving in to temptation and pulling apart one of the half finished robots.

She had been working on one of the bots, a little spherical thing with spindly legs, for some time and had just finished getting it to balance itself and walk across the table when she heard a soft cough behind her.

She spun around to see Hordak standing in the doorway.  
He was wearing a large, baggy jumper, despite the heat and had the hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

“You really like messing with my stuff don’t you?”

Entraptas shoulders dropped, worried she had overstepped a boundary.

“Are you angry?”

“What?” Hordak looked shocked, taking a step forward. “Of course not, you got her working” he nodded at the little robot “I could hardly be angry at you for doing a good job could I?”

“Well, you could” Entrapta shrugged, lifting up her visor “I’ve found that the quality of work matters less to some people when that work is… unwanted”

“Well then those people are idiots” Hordak dropped his bag and moved closer to the table, giving Entrapta plenty of space as he poked the robot, a look of glee splitting his face as it righted itself and kept walking “how did you get her to compensate like that!”

“Oh that was simple, I noticed you’d been working heavily on the legs but I just stripped them down and installed a little gyroscope inside ‘her’ housing” she felt a warm glow build in her chest as she watched Hordak grin.

“I’m also interested in how you got in here” Hordak crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at her “I’m pretty sure I locked the door”

“Oh well, you know, locks” Entrapta shrugged, spinning around in her chair “Is there anyone else in this club? It seems a little, small”

Hordak snorted, looking at Entrapta the same way he looked at the robot “The real Engineering club has much better facilities. I made this one so I could have the space to myself, we don’t have a budget, but I just buy the stuff myself”

“We?” Entrapta queried

“Well, there is one other member, not that I could get rid of him” Hordak rapped his fist on the workbench, eliciting a small squeak from beneath it.

Entrapta pushed back and looked under the bench to see a tiny person wrapped in a blanket, leaning up against the wall. They were wearing some sort of plastic halloween mask which they pushed up to reveal chubby cheeks and an ear to ear grin.

“Are they… a student?” Entrapta asked slowly

Hordak almost doubled over, struggling to hold back laughter that trailed off into a loud cough “No, no, I think he’s one of the professors kids, I don’t know how he keeps getting in here, but I can’t get rid of him”

“Oh… Hello! I’m Entrapta!” she waved at the child who pulled the mask back over his face.

“He doesn’t really talk,” Hordak said, crouching down and gesturing slowly and carefully with his hands.

Sign language. Entrapta had tried to teach herself it once, but it was almost impossible to do properly in gloves and had made her frustrated enough to move on.

“Time to go Imp” Hordak said softly, continuing to sign.

The child, Entrapta assumed their name wasn’t actually ‘Imp’, grabbed their blanket and signed something at Hordak before holding out their hand.

Hordak rolled his eyes and dug a small candy bar out of his bag.

Entrapta watched as the ‘Imp’ took the candy bar and made a few more quick signs to Hordak before blowing a raspberry at her and trotting out of the clubroom, their blanket trailing behind them.  
She only recognised one of the signs they made, ‘love you’.  
But she felt like a coiled spring of tension was unwinding inside of her, the worries of that morning falling away.

“What?” Hordak looked at her, embarrassed. She hadn’t realised she’d been staring “I have to give him candy or he keeps annoying me.” Hordak turned his back on her, clearing his throat again “I think he gets in through the ducts, I’d seal them off but that would be a hazard so I just have to put up with it.”

“Uh huh” Entrapta made a small noise of agreement and twirled around on the chair, holding back a giggle. It was a little adorable when Hordak tried to look serious while he was clearly blushing. “Do you want to show me what you’ve been working on?”

Hordak nodded, smoothing back his hair “Well, that little one was just a side project, my main focus right now is that one” He pointed at a much larger bot on the bench.

It was very different to the small, delicate bot she had tinkered with, looking more like a brick with tank treads.

“Hmmmm, whats it for?” Entrapta asked, leaning forwards to poke at the bots chassis.

“Oh… ahh” Hordak squirmed a little, an act that Entrapta found fascinating enough to draw her attention back from the bot “Well, it’s a little silly”

“Tell me!” Entrapta bounced in her seat, trying to imagine what he could be embarrassed about.

“Well… Have you heard of BattleBots?” Hordak avoided looking at Entrapta as she stared at him expectantly “Its a stupid competition thing, people make bots and essentially smash them into eachother until one wins”

Entraptas eyes had gone roughly the size of dinner plates, her whole body vibrating slightly with excitement “That’s a THING!? People do that!?”

Hordak laughed a little self consciously “You don’t think it’s a bit childish?”

“I think it’s the COOLEST THING EVER!” Entrapta squealed, grabbing the heavy bot and dragging it towards her, popping off a panel to examine its internals “We are going to make this thing the most badass fighter bot in the universe!”

“This is just happening now is it?” Hordak shook his head, still smiling.

“If I push my Bio and Chem revision together, work on Physics during lunch and reduce my sleep schedule to five hours with a thirty minute nap then I should be able to come here after lectures at least a few times a week!” Entrapta spoke rapidly, barely pausing for breath as she started organising things in her head while poking around the bots guts.

“How many classes are you taking?” Hordak sat down, watching her go with a look of wonder on his face “I thought you were a first year?”

“I’m doing a double degree, Bach of Science and Bach of Engineering along with a sidestream in some history and archeology courses”

“How on earth do you manage that?”

“Oh it's easy, it's all in the planning and organising. It took me a long time to get my time table together, but it's perfect now. The main thing was balancing subjects for maximum retention of attentiveness, see you need to break similar subjects up or things start to blend together, like Physics and Maths, but if you slot Bio in between them then it shakes things up and keeps me focused and retaining information…” Entrapta continued to talk rapidfire for another few minutes, going over every detail of her study schedule before she caught herself.

Internally chastising herself for rambling she glanced over to check that she hadn’t put Hordak to sleep.

“Please continue,” Hordak said seriously, a pen and notepad in his hands.

He was taking notes. Entrapta almost squealed, quickly snapping down her visor to hide the embarrassing cascade of emotions that ran across her face.

“Is everything alright?” Hordak leaned forwards, looking concerned.

Entrapta took a deep breath, slapping her hands rhythmically on her thighs a few times to burn off the burst of excess energy before speaking calmly “Yes, everything is quite perfect”

Turning back to the bot she yanked out the circuit board in a quick motion that made Hordak wince. “This is going to need resoldering with thicker wires” she said, passing it to Hordak “We are going to push a LOT more power through this baby. Am I right in assuming this actuator is to operate some kind of weapon?”

“Yes, that's correct” Hordak took the circuit board gently.

“ALRIGHT!” Entrapta cracked her knuckles loudly, the jarring sensation kicking her mind into gear “The chassis and the drivetrain is perfect, but if we switch to a tight band wireless powersource we can cut weight and increase power at the same time! You get to work on that and I’ll see what you have laying around here”

“Yes Sir-ma’am!” Hordak half snapped a salute, looking a little intimidated despite himself as the tiny woman ordered him around so casually.

Entrapta moved around the small workshop like a whirlwind, grabbing parts and tools before dumping them on the bench and getting to work, careful to leave enough space for Hordak to be comfortable.

She had been working feverishly for a while when she noticed the grunts of frustration coming from Hordak.

He was hunched over the circuit board, his hand shaking as he held the soldering iron.

“Hordak, do you need-” Entrapta started to speak as Hordaks arm spasmed, driving the soldering iron into the circuit board and burning a hole straight through it.

“Damn it!” he yelled, slamming his fist down on the bench hard enough to make Entrapta jump.

Entrapta was silent for a few moments, calming her breathing after the outburst, before slowly moving closer “Hordak, are you okay?”

“I’m sorry” Hordak mumbled, barely audible, tossing the circuit board angrily into the trash.  
“I have…’ he took a deep breath “I have a thing, it’s a nervous system problem. It makes precise movements difficult.”

Entrapta nodded and backed away, leaving Hordak with his head in his hands.

He was angry at himself. Both for his clumsiness and his outburst. He hadn’t missed how it affected Entrapta.  
He should just leave her to it, he thought. Not that she would want to work with someone who blew up like that.

He kept his head down as he heard her working again. In one afternoon it seemed like she had already made more progress than he had in a year.

That was the real reason he had made his own lonely little club. So he didn't have to watch everyone else racing ahead, accomplishing more, doing more, condescendingly asking if he needed ‘help with that’.

He looked up in shock as she placed a bundle of things on the bench next to him.

“Here” She said quietly, her visor obscuring her face “I made a brace for your arm, its crude, but I can make something better later, it should help steady you, and here are some clips and weights to hold the board and the wires down”

Hordak looked at her in shock, he’d expected her to berate him for his clumsiness and take it to do herself. She didn’t seem like someone who would suffer delays gladly and it would clearly be more efficient just for her to do it..

“But first, give me your hand” Entrapta reached out and took Hordaks hand before he could refuse, squeezing softly, but still hard enough to make him wince a little.

“Okay, nothing's broken” Entrapta flipped up her visor, smiling at him, no trace of frustration or impatience on her face. “You should be more careful, the bones in the hand can be quite fragile and you have such nice long fingers”

Hordak felt his brain short-circuiting. Entraptas gloves were thick and rough, but the contact still felt somehow intimate, trusting.

“If you need to hit something, use something softer next time” she added helpfully before letting go of his hand and moving back over to her side of the bench “And maybe give me a bit of a warning”

“Of course” Hordak almost choked, his throat feeling very tight. He rubbed at his eyes, feeling them threaten to mist up “I’m very sorry, I will attempt to do better next time”

“It’s okay. If something is difficult, there's nothing wrong with needing a bit of support, finding better ways to do something is the essence of scientific experimentation!”

Hordak sighed quietly “But I should be able to do it the right way”

Entrapta looked over at him, confused “Just because you have a... difference doesn’t make you wrong”

“Ailments of the Flesh are Ailments of the Spirit” Hordak muttered under his breath, almost without thinking.

He got another circuit board and set up the wires before strapping on the crude brace Entrapta had made for him.

It helped. It held his arm steady. And all the clips kept the wires and solder in place so he could use his other hand to steady the iron.  
It still made him feel weak, like a cripple that needed to be strapped down to stop from hurting themself.

He would never have used something like it if she hadn’t made it for him.

Entrapta was very confused. She didn't understand how Hordak could be so nice to her, to the little ‘Imp’. But so mean to himself?

They worked in silence until Entraptas phone buzzed, letting her know the last bus would be arriving soon.

“I have to go now. But I can come back tomorrow?”

“Of course, whenever you want to” Hordak nodded, staying focused on the parts he was fixing together “Just, if I'm not here, please make sure everything is unplugged and put away. If anything was left running Imp might hurt himself”

“Of course” Entrapta, took her time gathering her things, trying to build up confidence to speak.  
“I’m not very good at emotional reassurances. But, if everything was perfect, we would never learn anything, we would never need to create new things or develop new technology.” she took a deep breath, reaching out to touch Hordaks arm lightly with the back of her hand. “Imperfections drive us, they make us who we are. And I think they are beautiful.

Hordak kept his head down. He just wished he had deserved to have been made a little better. Not quite so riddled with flaws.

Entrapta waited for Hordak to say something. Continuing in his silence “I’ll see you tomorrow? Partner?”

Hordak smiled a little despite himself “Of course. We have a lot of work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had intended to take a little break before continuing with this chapter but everyone left such nice comments I felt really motivated to just keep going :D  
> Hope you all enjoy <3


	4. Reciprocity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entrapta and Hordak prepare to head to the magical realm of Mysta-Con

Entrapta went to the clubroom every evening that week. And the next one.

Her study plan could take the hit. And besides, she found she wasn’t stressing so much about needing to over prepare for everything.  
When she was working with Hordak she just felt like things would work out.

She kept working on Hordaks brace. Improving it with foam padding, soft straps and a ratcheting hinge so he could adjust the angle.

She made more little alterations to their space as she noticed more about him.

She set up an adjustable vice for him to hold pieces in place while he worked on them and affixed a sort of elevated platform on his side of the work bench so he didn’t have to hunch over as much.

When she noticed how often he seemed tired and sore by the end of the day she brought in pillows and cushions to pad his chair.

She even had enough left over to build a little pillow fort for Imp, which seemed to make him warm up to her a bit, or at least stopped him from tying her laces together while she worked.

Hordak took all these changes in stride with a small nod or a quiet acknowledgement. But she noticed that he tried to return the little gifts in his own way.

Once he learnt about Entraptas peculiar dietary requirements, chewing was okay but she hated biting into things, he started bringing in fancy little cupcakes and tiny tarts which Entrapta insisted they share together.

She didn’t think he knew that she could tell from the bakeries label just how far out of his way he drove to get them as he always insisted he just ‘picked them up’.

One thing she noticed however was just how many walls he still had up around himself.  
Entrapta had never been the best at reading people, but working together in such close quarters, she began to notice the little twitches and flinches when she tried to ask him questions about himself.

They could talk for hours about science and engineering and new ideas for their Battle Bot (who Entrapta had taken to calling ‘Emily’), but the second the conversation became more personal his face would ‘close up’ and he would change the subject.

She realised it was a little like her with her visor, he just didn’t need a physical mask to hide behind. His defences were built into him, always up, only coming down occasionally to give her a brief glimpse of… something. Fear? Pain? Anger?  
She wished she still had the little flashcards her parents used to help her with facial expressions. Though holding up a reference book to check on him probably wouldn’t make Hordak feel more comfortable being open around her.

Hordak was sitting at the workbench, working on Emily's remote control when Entrapta came bursting through the door, her eyes sparkling.

“MYSTA-CON!” She squealed, loud enough to wake Imp and send him scurrying into his pillow fort.

“Good even-” Hordak was cut off as Entrapta rushed over, holding a flyer up in his face.

“It’s a convention for lovers of Science, Technology and Sci-fi! There’ll be displays by a bunch of companies and a talk by one of the head engineers of Boston Dynamics!”

“I know what it is” Hordak spoke slowly, trying to calm Entrapta down before she knocked something over. She was in what he had started to think of as her ‘jackhammer’ mode, where she was so full of excitement she paid little heed to where her limbs were flying

“Then let's go!” Entrapta bounced rapidly on the balls of her feet.

The convention was more than all those things of course, if her study of anime and situational comedies had taught her anything it was a chance for them to bond together and have new experiences that deepened their friendship.

Hordak struggled to read the rapidly moving flyer “It’s this weekend?”

Entrapta nodded quickly “Saturday and Sunday! We don’t have to go both days, unless you want to”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay? These things get very busy, there's going to be a lot of people there”

“I’ll be fine as long as I’m with you” Entrapta looked at him pleadingly

Hordak groaned as he felt the last of his resolve melt away. This wasn’t the kind of thing he would be interested in normally. Anything worth seeing would be on the internet eventually.  
But as he had discovered over the past few weeks, he really couldn’t say no to her.

“Okay”

“YES!” Entrapta squealed happily, spinning around the little clubroom. This was going to be perfect. She would be able to do so much research and if it got too loud or busy, Hordak would be right there with her.

“Oh wait” Entrapta stopped spinning and crouched down to look under the workbench “Should we bring Imp?”

“I believe that would be kidnapping” Hordak snorted “He does have parents you know”

Imp popped out of his pillow fort and looked at Entrapta very seriously, making a few quick signs.

“He wants you to bring him back an Alien” Hordak said to Entrapta

Entrapta nodded, signing awkwardly “I try good-est”.

Her gloves made it difficult to do more complex signs but she had been practicing some simple ones and it seemed to have paid off as Imp flashed her a big, chubby-cheeked grin.

“My house is closer to the venue” Hordak said, watching the two with a small smile “would it be acceptable to meet there and then I will drive us in?”

“Of course” Entrapta jumped to her feet “I’m going to head home now so I can get all my revision done, and then we’ll have all weekend free!” she shuffled a little awkwardly before dashing over and giving Hordak a quick, tight hug “Thank you”

Hordak sat there silently, looking like a stunned fish as Entrapta bounced her way out.

“You’re a dumb dumb” Imp crawled out from under the bench and signed at him before miming hugging and smooching.

Hordak growled and tossed a pillow at him but that only made the small child giggle louder.  
He knew he didn’t exactly look very intimidating with his cheeks flushed bright red.

So, early Saturday morning Entrapta got up and put on her best overalls (the ones with barely any stains), carefully packed a bag (headphones, earplugs, portable charger, water, snacks) and headed over to Hordaks place.

She hadn’t been there since their first meeting, but she knew that he didn’t seem to spend a lot of time there, preferring his… their little clubroom workshop.

She was a little disappointed when Catra opened the door, looking Entrapta up and down with a dismissive scowl “Oh, it's you again. Hordaks still getting ready or something”

“Hi Catra,” Entrapta said happily, far too excited to absorb any negativity.

Catra moved aside to let her in and then glanced up at the stairs “Hey, Entrapta, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“We are already talking,” Entrapta replied, moving into the living room to sit down.

Catra let out a little groan, following Entrapta “Look, you seem nice and I just want to warn you, Hordak has a lot of baggage”

“Oh?” Entrapta furrowed her brow “That's odd, we aren’t really going away or anything, it’s just a day trip”

“URGH!” Catra rubbed her temples, taking a deep breath “I mean Emotional baggage, okay? He’s got a lot of issues and I don’t think he’s really dealing with any of them.”

“Ohhh..” Entrapta shifted uncomfortably “Why are you telling me this?”

Catra seemed offended by the question, standing up and crossing her arms “I’m just, trying to do something nice, jeez, I don’t want to see you get hurt”

Catra glanced over her shoulder at the sound of a door closing and quickly stomped out of the room “Don’t say I didn’t warn you”

Entrapta quickly forgot her discomfort as Hordak came down the stairs. He was wearing a big hoodie that obscured his thin frame and comfortable looking pants, and his face looked like it was a slightly different shape?

“Are you wearing makeup?”

“Just a bit of eyeliner” Hordak mumbled awkwardly, wishing Entrapta didn’t have such a sharp eye.

He had told himself a few times that this wasn’t a date. Just two friends on a research expedition. But he still wanted to look nice. Plus a little bit of makeup helped him feel more confident, concealing his flaws and slightly enhancing his more passable features.

“The lines are very neat” Entrapta beamed at Hordak happily

Hordak couldn’t help but smile back, he supposed that was a pretty good compliment from her, at least she didn’t think it was weird or anything.

“Are you ready to go?” Entraptas impatience was obvious, already starting to bounce a little on the balls of her feet.

“I will not delay you any longer” said dryly, quickening his pace and pulling out his keys to unlock the car, letting Entrapta run ahead of him.

“MYSTA-CON!” Entrapta let out an exuberant whoop, pulling out her phone to film her and Hordak in the background “Super best-friends research trip ready for launch!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankyou so much again to everybody leaving comments, you all sustain me <3  
> Also, I know Mysta-Con seems like a bad name for a science/tech based convention, but I couldn't help myself with the pun OTL


	5. Mysta-Con

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entrapta and Hordak go on a research expedition (absolutely not a date) to Mysta-Con.
> 
> Entrapta commits some minor larceny, but it's for a friend so it's okay.

Entrapta could barely contain herself on the ride over.  
Flipping through her phone, checking maps and planning the perfect route and schedule, all the while keeping up a running commentary that was more than a little distracting to Hordak.

He really wanted to pay attention, but getting them there without crashing was currently more important.

The convention hall was huge, and even the parking lot was full of enough people to start to make Entrapta feel nervous.

“Are you okay?” Hordak locked up the car and moved to her side “Remember, we don’t have to go if you change your mind and we can leave whenever you want”

There were so many people, more than she’d ever seen in one place, even more than the Universities open day and it got even worse as they got to the lines at the door.

So many people, so many faces, talking, laughing. She could feel them, churning around her, pressing down on her like she was underwater.  
Every face looking at her, every voice talking about her.

She took a deep breath and squeezed Hordaks hand tightly, leaning into him.  
She trusted him, she knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.  
He was like a grounding rod in the middle of a storm, the eye of the hurricane, a little island of calm.

Sticking tight by his side, they navigated the lines and finally made their way inside.

It was still packed, if anything more packed than before, but as she looked around Entrapta could feel the pressure starting to lift a little. Surrounded by new ideas, new technology and people just as passionate and excited about it as she was, everything started to seem a little less scary.

She wished she was as tall as Hordak so she could see over the crowd, but she had her map and her plan, she was prepared and in control.

“Alright!” Entrapta said loudly, taking a wide stance and punching her fists in the air “Hordak! Follow me!”

It felt almost impossible to see everything, things that hadn’t seemed so interesting on paper were suddenly fascinating close up and there was always another odd little booth tucked away somewhere that caught her eye and flared her curiosity.

She tried to stick to her plan as much as possible but disruption was inevitable as she dashed around from one fixation to the next.

But that was okay.

As soon as things started to get too much, she would hurry back to Hordak’s side and link her arm through his. Taking some time to calm down and centre herself.

She was having such a wonderful time that she didn’t notice anything was wrong until she felt Hordak stumble beside her.

“Horadk are you okay?” Entrapta looked up at his face and could immediately see how much pain he was in.

“I’m fine,” he said quickly, straightening his back and trying to hide it.

“No” Entrapta stopped, still holding Hordak tight. “You need to sit down, I’ve got water and snacks, you need to rest”

Hordak held his head up high “Nonsense, this is nothing. Humans are persistence hunters, we were made to be able to walk without rest for days”

Entrapta scowled at Hordak, glancing around for a place to sit “You are not just a human, you are a Hordak, a unique individual with his own particular needs and requirements”

Hordak opened his mouth to protest but was cut off as Entrapta pulled him after her, stumbling to keep his balance.

“And right now, you need to rest” She practically dragged him over to some chairs, tucked behind a booth and pushed him down into one.

“I’m sorry” Hordak mumbled, taking Entraptas offered waterbottle.

“Look, Hordak, If you run your tractor until it’s out of gas do you call it a crappy tractor?”

“My tractor?” Hordak raised an eyebrow at her “What-”

“You don't have anything to be sorry about, is what I’m trying to say” Entrapta leaned forwards. When Hordak was sitting down they were almost the same height, it was strange to not be looking up at him.  
She’d never noticed what a beautiful, shining green his eyes were.

Entrapta looked away quickly as their eyes met.

“Our bodies are basically just big machines made of meat that carry our brains around, we need to look after them properly”

“Okay, I just need a moment, that's all, I don’t want you to miss anything” Hordak didn’t have the breath to argue any more. And he suddenly felt so embarrassed for trying to hide it from her.  
Not shame, surprisingly, she wasn’t angry with him or trying to make him feel guilty. She just cared.  
That was new to him.

“Just wait right here okay, I’ve got an idea, I’ll be back!” Entrapta beamed at him before flipping down her visor and rushing off into the crowd.

Hordak almost collapsed as soon as she was out of sight.  
He knew it was stupid, but he couldn’t let her see just how much pain he was in. She was so happy, he couldn’t ruin this for her.

Normally, after a day of walking around campus between lectures and doing some work in the clubroom it was all he could manage to get up the stairs to his room before collapsing into bed.

But now he had been on his feet for hours and his entire body was screaming.  
His muscles were aching, his nerves were firing pins and needles all over his body and his binder was cutting into his chest.  
The usually comforting pressure now felt like it was crushing his lungs and making it impossible to breathe deeply.

His head was still swimming a little when he saw Entrapta come barging back through the crowd, pushing a wheelchair in front of her.

“No” He said immediately, struggling to push himself up out of the chair, cursing internally as his arms failed him.

“This way you can sit down and rest, and we can still go see things!” Entrapta pushed up her visor to reveal her face, flushed and sweaty, but still smiling.

“No, no, I don’t need that” Hordak growled, trying to wave Entrapta away.

“Do you want to go home?” Entrapta face fell a little “It’s okay, I understand”

“No, not that I just… I’ll be fine, I can walk” Hordak grit his teeth, trying again to push himself back to his feet.

“Hordak, please” Entraptas' voice was soft, but it stabbed straight into his heart “I… When I see you hurting… I feel like I’m hurting as well. I know it’s illogical, pain isn’t contagious, it’s just nerves firing, a chemical reaction. But, I feel it”

Hordak hung his head, why was he doing this to her? Why did he have to be so difficult?

“I just, I don’t want people to see me like that, I don’t want them to think I’m weak” Hordak stared at the ground, unable to look at Entrapta.

“If you think that makes you weak, then what do you think of me?” Entrapta crouched down beside Hordak, leaning against the chair “I have to wear these gloves so I can stand to touch things, I wear my visor so I don’t have to feel people looking at me.”

“You are perfect,” Hordak said immediately.

“No, I’m not” Entrapta put her hand on Hordaks knee “and that's okay, I’m happy being me! You don’t have to be perfect, you’re just you, and your imperfections are beautiful”

Hordak couldn’t speak, his chest was bursting with so many emotions that it felt like his heart was trying to crawl out of his throat.

“I’m sorry, did I say the wrong thing?” Entrapta’s voice was thick with worry.

Hordak touched his face to feel tears running down his cheeks, stained black with eyeliner.  
It had been a long time since Hordak cried. It was something he had promised himself that he would never do again. That he would never be so weak.

“No, no Entrapta, you said the right thing” Hordak looked up to smile at Entrapta, tears still flowing down his face.

Entrapta almost tackled Hordak out of the chair, wrapping her arms around his chest in a crushing hug.

“Too tight!” Hordak wheezed, patting Entrapta on the back

“I’m sorry” Entrapta said quickly, pulling back “I was... overcome with emotion, was that inappropriate?”

“It was wonderful” Hordak reached out to Entrapta, letting her come the rest of the way and take his hand “Now, give me a hand and let's get moving. I don’t want to miss anything”

Hordak still felt embarrassed at first, guilty, shameful. He could still walk, of course it would be painful, and he wouldn’t get far. But he could still physically walk and he felt like everyone they passed was looking at him, judging him.

But Entrapta kept up her constant commentary, noting and expounding on everything they passed. He focused on her voice letting it distract and comfort him.

He really could listen to her for hours, her enthusiasm when she spoke was so passionate it was infectious and soon he was caught up in it. Forgetting himself despite the hateful little voice in the back of his head.

They circled the convention hall twice, inspecting all the displays and booths, taking notes on all the most interesting and critiquing the less credible.

They bought overpriced food and played some demos. Talking and laughing with a freedom that Hordak wondered if he had ever felt before.  
Not just freedom from pain, but the freedom to just be happy, without feeling guilty for it.

By the time they had finished listening to the presentation Entrapta wanted to see they were both ready to head home.

“Will you be alright to drive?” Entrapta asked

“I’ll get us home, don’t worry” Hordak stretched, testing out his tired muscles “Do you still want to come back tomorrow?”

Entrapta hummed thoughtfully “There’s a couple of things on, but let’s just see how you’re feeling”

“You should probably take this thing back to wherever you got it from” Hordak said, realising he hadn’t actually questioned where she got the wheelchair. She was Entrapta after all, he would believe she could conjure anything with a screwdriver and a bit of scrap.

“I just need to do one thing first” Entrapta took them through the artists corner, picking out a big green stuffed alien from one of the booths.

“Very… Cute?” Hordak said questioningly as Entrapta placed it on his lap

“It’s for Imp! I promised. Do you think he’ll like it?”

Hordak laughed, he’d forgotten about Imps odd request completely “If he starts chewing on it that means he loves it”

Entrapta froze “I didn’t think to check if it tasted good. The materials are all non-toxic though”

“Don’t worry” Hordak turned around to reassure her “It will be perfect. Perfectly imperfect, stitches and all.”

Hordak had gotten enough rest to get himself into the car without trouble and Entrapta joined him once she returned the wheelchair, insisting on buckling the Alien into the back seat.

“Do you want me to drive you home?” Hordak asked “It’s not too far”

“Could I stay at your place tonight? It would be easier if we decide to go again tomorrow.” Entrapta asked the question so casually but Hordak was glad he hadn’t started driving yet.

“It would be more efficient” Hordak said eventually “You can have my bed, I can sleep on the couch”

“Don’t be silly” Entrapta said sternly “You require a proper, restful sleep. I will make arrangements for myself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Entrapta 'borrowed' the wheelchair from a display on assistive technologies, she didn't steal it from someone who was using it.


	6. Slumber Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entrapta and Hordak have a slumber party and spend some peaceful time together.
> 
> Warning for sex mention and ingrained heteronormativity.  
> (No actual sex stuff)

Entrapta helped Hordak out of the car when they got back but he insisted on walking in by himself.  
Catra wasn’t home but Scorpia was in the kitchen, singing something Entrapta didn’t recognise.

Hordak headed off to the bathroom to soak in the bath for a little while and Entrapta followed the scents to check on Scorpia.

Scorpia was cooking soup, which was always an interesting food to Entrapta.  
She liked how it was a drink and a food at the same time and how its ‘size’ depended solely on the container it was served in, not how it was prepared.

Scorpia was very excited when Entrapta told her she was staying over.

“Slumber party! We can watch crappy movies and play mario kart and do each other’s hair!”

Entrapta felt a little sad to disappoint her. She had always wanted to have a slumber party but she never really had the friends for it and now that she was an ‘adult’ it seemed like parties were more about being very loud and drinking lots of alcohol.

“I’m sorry, Hordak really needs to sleep and we’ll be getting up early tomorrow. But maybe we could do that another time?”

Scorpias' face didn’t fall at all, that big warm smile staying firmly put “That's cool, I understand, is there anything you need?” she stroked her chin thoughtfully “I don’t really know how big Hordaks bed is”

“Oh I’ll just sleep on the floor, Hordak needs his space, if you have a spare blanket that would help?”

“Oh I can do that! No problem!” Scorpia said excitedly, hurrying off to her room.

Scorpias’ room was possibly the softest place Entrapta had ever seen, filled to bursting with bean bags, pillows and stuffed animals.

“It’s pretty hot where I come from so it always gets too cold here for me at night” Scorpia explained as she loaded Entraptas arms up with pillows and blankets “I’ve got plenty of spares.”

Entrapta gave a muffled thankyou as Scorpia continued to add to the pile, practically burying her.

“Is there anything else you need?” Scorpia asked, lowering her voice “Do you need any protection?”

Entrapta considered the question before pointing to one of the stuffed animals, a big fuzzy cat.

Scorpia looked confused for a second before smiling and placing the cat on top of the pile “Good choice, she’s a real wildcat but she gives good hugs”

“And some soup?” Entrapta asked, teetering out of the room with her precarious stack of comfort.

“No problem! I’ll bring it up, try and get Hordak to have some too yeah? He really needs to eat more”

“Thankyou!” Entrapta squeaked as she struggled to open the door to Hordaks room without dropping everything.

She had decided that Scorpia was definitely a friend. And it made her happy to know that there was someone in the house that cared about Hordaks health.

Hordaks room was incredibly bare compared to Scorpias.  
Entrapta believed the word was ‘spartan’. Though that always made her think of muscular warriors in their underwear, not a neat empty room with little in the way of personal effects.

At least it meant there was plenty of space on the floor to build herself a little nest of blankets and pillows. Scorpia had given her enough quilts and duvets to have a plenty of padding beneath her and still have a comfortable weight on top.  
She carefully propped Scorpias’ cat and Imps Alien up against the wall next to her.

Scorpia soon came up with a few small mugs of soup and a gigantic flannel shirt “here, I thought you might want something to sleep in. It’s clean I promise!”

Entrapta gave the shirt an experimental sniff, finding it agreeable. It was very nice and soft, the way flannel got after it had been worn and washed a lot of times.

“This will be most suitable” Entrapta said, starting to remove her overalls which made Scorpia dash for the door “Thank you!”

“No problem, sleep well!” Scorpia said very quickly, closing the door behind her.

Entrapta had finished getting changed and folding up her clothes when Hordak came in, his hair still damp from the bath.  
He walked through the door and then seemed to freeze, staring at Entrapta oddly.

He was wearing some plain but comfy looking pyjamas. They covered him very modestly aside from his feet, which appeared to be made out of metal and shaped plastic.

Entrapta immediately shot forwards on her hands and knees, peering at his artificial feet up close.

“Those are beautiful!!” she cooed, her eyes sparkling “How long have you had them? Are they comfortable? Do they have an internal powersource?”

Hordak winced internally as Entrapta started firing questions at him. He should have worn socks.  
But as he looked down at her he could see nothing but fascination and excitement in her eyes. Not the tiniest shred of pity or shock.  
She really did think they were beautiful.

Hordak averted his eyes quickly. Entrapta was wearing a very loose fitting shirt and he didn’t need any more confusing feelings mixing with the lump rising in his throat.

“I told you about my… nerve condition” Hordak said, lifting up his pant leg to show Entrapta they went up to a little below his knee “it's degenerative. When I was about sixteen my feet just sort of… died. They had to amputate so infection wouldn’t spread.”

Hordak took a deep breath. His legs were such a visible reminder of his disability, his defective nature, that he hadn’t acknowledged them to anybody in a long time. But he didn’t think he cared about hiding anything from Entrapta anymore.

It actually felt like a relief to tell her, knowing that she wouldn’t think less of him. That she accepted him.

“They do not have a powersource, but they serve their purpose adequately.”

Entrapta scurried to the side to let Hordak walk to his bed, trying to get a closer look at the ankle joint as he moved.

“Do you need to take them off to sleep?” She asked curiously.

“Well, I’m supposed to” Hordak sat down on his bed, stretching his legs out.

He neglected to look after his prosthetics properly more than he liked to admit. Taking them off to bathe seemed like enough of a humiliation.  
He mostly just tried to ignore their existence.

“Do you need help taking them off?” Entrapta asked, with what she thought was a good attempt at a casual tone.

Hordak laughed at Entraptas’ feigned innocence, he could still see the glimmer of scientific curiosity in her eyes “You just want to touch them don't you?”

Entrapta pouted, looking around guiltily before replying “Yes.”

“Go ahead then” Hordak pulled up his pants legs to let Entrapta scurry forwards and unfasten the straps that held his prosthetics in place. He thought about teasing her more but she was far too adorable for him to not let her get her way.

“I swear, if I wake up and you’ve taken them to pieces I will… be very… displeased” Hordak struggled to finish his sentence. The sight of Entrapta on her knees in front of him like that making his brain short circuit in a very uncomfortable manner.

He decided to stare at the ceiling and try to list all of Emily's components in alphabetical order in his head until she moved back.

“I would never do that” Entrapta protested “or… at least I would put them back together again… But you know we could build way better ones, stronger and with internal motors to make them more responsive”

“I don't need to be able to leap tall building in a single bound” Hordak yawned.  
The hot water of the bath had soothed the pain in his muscles, but the exhausting day was starting to catch up with him “They just need to stop me from falling over”

“What about a small building?” Entrapta turned off the lights before burrowing down into her nest.

“Good night Entrapta” Hordak said as sternly as possible, struggling to stifle a snort.

Hordak was just starting to fall asleep when Entrapta spoke again.

“Hordak… Do you like anyone?”

“Excuse me?” Hordak sputtered, suddenly feeling very awake.

“I believe it is an appropriate question to ask during a slumber party”

Hordak sighed. Perhaps if he could sate her curiosity then he could get to sleep.

“Well… it’s complicated”

Entrapta was silent, waiting for him to continue.

“It’s just, because I’m… because of gender stuff. I know I’m supposed to like men, but then, if I can be a guy, then maybe I’m supposed to like women. But, I’m not really supposed to be a guy anyway.” Hordak struggled with the words, the uncertainty bottled up inside him pouring out in an embarrassing rush.

“You said ‘supposed to’ a lot. I was asking about you, not what other people think”

“I really don’t know” Hordaks voice was very soft, as though afraid to speak too loud “I don’t think I’ve ever really known what love is. I’ve never experienced it before, so I don’t know if I could tell if I was feeling it.”

Entrapta hummed softly “building on prior experiences is how our brains learn to categorize things… I don’t know about sexual attraction, I’ve tried manual stimulation before-”

Hordak coughed very loudly.

“- but I just get overstimulated very quickly” Entrapta continued, oblivious “as for love… I love my parents and I know they love me. But romantic love is different I think? When I was younger I thought that if I met ‘the one’ they would make me feel ‘normal’”

Entrapta yawned and snuggled down deeper in her blanket nest, making Hordak strain to hear her “but you don’t make me feel normal. You make me feel special”

Hordak lay there, his heart pounding, trying to parse the implications of Entraptas’ words.

Entrapta made him feel a lot of things. Confused, excited, happy, frequently flustered.  
When she wasn’t there his thoughts went to her and he missed her in a way that was... stronger than normal.

Was that love?

“Entrapta?” he said quietly, hoping she would continue but being met only with a soft snuffle and the sound of Entrapta rolling over beneath her mountain of blankets.

Of course she had fallen asleep.

It took a while longer for Hordak to drift off. His head spinning with questions.  
Confusion was definitely one of the major things Entrapta made him feel.

Hordak woke up to the smell of food.  
He sat up quickly, regretting the movement instantly as his muscles screeched. Still aching from the previous day.

“What time is it?” He asked, looking around.

Entrapta was fully clothed, sitting on the floor eating some small pastries and watching something on her laptop with headphones on.

“I need to get ready” the sun was shining between the curtains, it was obviously later than he intended to wake.

“There's nothing to get ready for” Entrapta smiled at him brightly “You are resting. Besides, its already past one pm”

Hordak groaned in frustration, trying to push himself up again “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sleep in so much”

“It’s okay” Entrapta hopped up and gently pushed Hordak back down, sitting on the bed next to him “You needed to sleep. And I got to bake things with Scorpia!” she offered him a pastry, popping it in his mouth as he opened it to protest.

“You are going to stay in bed and we are going to do research!” Entrapta moved her laptop so Hordak could see and took out the headphones “I’m only up to season two of Battlebots but it has been exceedingly fascinating to watch the meta evolve. I’ll need to review more modern episodes to inform our design of course, but the history has its own value”

Hordak chewed slowly. Far more interested in watching Entraptas face than the laptop.  
Thinking back to the previous night he realised he didn’t care if what they had had a name.  
As long as he was with her and she was happy, that's all he needed.

Entrapta was having a wonderful day.  
She had woken up fairly early and just spent a while watching Hordak sleep.

It made her feel so happy to see him look so calm and relaxed. She didn’t even consider waking him.

Entrapta was sure that there was nothing at Mysta-Con that could fascinate her more than observing his little movements, the slight twitch of his nose, the occasional emotion flitting across his face. Making her wonder what he might be dreaming about.

She tore herself away eventually, she wasn’t sure that she wanted him to wake up with her staring at him so intently.

Getting dressed and heading downstairs she spent some time hanging out with Scorpia, who had just gotten back from an early morning run.

They cooked some breakfast together and talked.

Entrapta discovered that Scorpia was from Arizona, a little rural town out in the desert and found that they shared many of the strange little experiences that came with growing up in isolated areas.

Catra had come home sometime in the night and she gave Entrapta some strange looks when she came down for breakfast but didn’t say anything, ignoring Entraptas greeting.

Scorpia didn’t have any plans for the day so after a quick workout they decided to do some baking.

Entrapta honestly enjoyed baking, it reminded her of happy memories with her mother.  
Even when they couldn’t connect on some matters it was always nice to spend time together, experimenting with how tiny and compact they would make things.

Kneading the dough was Entraptas favourite. She couldn’t wear her gloves of course, so it was always a very intense experience, but not in a bad way. The dough was smooth and yielding and it felt good to squash and mash it. She had to clean her hands very thoroughly after though.

She needed to do something a little less active after all that work so she went back up to Hordaks room to settle down and watch Battlebots.

She was glad once Hordak woke up, it meant she could finally squeeze in next to him and start sharing all the ideas that had been building up inside her.

Hordak really was the perfect lab partner.  
Although he did let her do most of the talking (not that she minded that) when he did speak he was always intelligent and insightful, sometimes helping her take ideas in ways she had never considered just by asking a simple question.

She felt like they could accomplish anything together, like two machines working in tandem to generate more force than they ever could alone.

She knew that she had only known him for a relatively short time, just over a month. But she hoped this could last forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not trying to beat around the bush with Hordaks gender identity, he is a transman in this AU. There are just some words that he can't really say out loud due to his upbringing.
> 
> Also this took longer than I meant to because I got distracted and ended up watching Battlebots for a few hours.  
> I wasn't really a fan before but I see the appeal now :D


	7. Drift-Compatible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entrapta and Hordak work on Emily with a new goal in mind.
> 
> Hordak gets a surprise visitor!

Entrapta wanted to stay longer, but eventually she had to say goodbye to Hordak and Scorpia and head home to get ready for Monday.

As she lugged the big stuffed alien between lectures she found herself growing increasingly impatient. Not just to give Imp his present, but to see Hordak again.

Which seemed ridiculous as she had seen him not even twenty four hours ago.

A little voice in the back of her head started to wonder if this partnership really was a good thing.  
It had already severely curtailed her study time, not that she was behind in anything.

And now she could barely focus on her lectures, so eager to get back to their little shared workspace and see him again.

Perhaps she should be more strict with her schedules?  
More time apart might allow her to focus again?

But she didn’t really want that.  
It made her so happy working with him, he made her feel special.

Was it selfish to put her emotions before her education? She had so many plans before she came here, but now she didn’t really know what was important anymore.

Deep in thought, she didn’t notice that her feet had carried her to the clubroom.  
It seemed her legs had cast their vote at least.

She had barely walked through the door when Imp shot out from under the workbench and tackled the alien out of her arms. Letting out a little squeal of joy as he pinned it to the ground and started trying to bite its face off.

“Looks like he loves it,” Hordak said dryly. Watching with amusement as Imp slammed the alien around a few more times before dragging it back under the bench, still chewing on its head.

Entrapta was a little startled by the ferocity of Imps ‘affection’.  
But children did odd things. She remembered how shocked her mother had been when she found Entrapta carefully dissecting her dolls.

“What if he tears it? I’m not sure the fabric is strong enough to withstand… all that”

“Don’t worry” Hordak smiled at her reassuringly “If he does, I’ll just patch it”

“You can sew?” Entrapta asked curiously. Hordak seemed so mechanically focused, it seemed odd to picture him hunched over a sewing machine rather than a circuit board.

“Oh yes, and cook too. I’m quite the catch” He winked at her playfully.

Volunteering personal information and making a joke? Hordak was in a really good mood.

Entrapta hopped into her chair and rolled it over to Hordaks side, the bubbly feeling inside her pushing out any trace of her previous concerns.

“What should we work on today?”

Hordak raised an eyebrow at her “You don’t need me to tell you what to do”

“That is true, but…” She had been having some problems designing Emilys’ weapon systems, in that every time she got half way through one, she would suddenly get a new idea and start working on that. And the workshops shelves were starting to overflow with partially complete weapons and mechanisms. “I might need some executive decision making”

Hordak had noticed her rather scattered approach of course. But he hadn’t said anything.

The look on her face when she had an epiphany, the way her eyes went wide and her nose twitched, was so adorable he appreciated getting more opportunities to observe it.

“Well, how is the powersource coming along?” Hordak felt a bit strange taking charge with her, but if she wanted him to help her make a decision he would try his best.

“Oh I finished that a few days ago” Entrapta rolled over to one of the shelves and grabbed a large, chunky piece of equipment that looked a little like a tiny dalek.

“Why don’t we take Emily out for a test run then?” Hordak had been waiting for Entrapta to finish the powersource so he could do just that , but he didn’t complain.  
He knew that Entrapta was an amazing planner in other areas, but when it came to inventing it seemed her amazing brain could get a little distracted as she jumped between projects.  
“The tracks and the drivetrain should be all ready to go, maybe once you see how she moves you can pick a weapon?”

It took a while for them to lug everything out to one of the parking lots.  
Entrapta insisted on carrying all the heavy pieces and while Hordak protested at first he soon realised that she was actually quite strong. Her soft, cute layer of chub hiding some impressive muscles.

“Country girls” he muttered to himself as he walked along behind Entrapta. Trying not to think about how intimidating she would be if she was Scorpias’ height.

Entraptas' ambitious design for Emilys’ circuitry had led to a rather complicated design that required two separate controllers to operate.

They had decided that Hordak would control the movement and the self-righting/balancing mechanisms. While Entrapta would operate the powersource, needing to aim it at Emilys’ receiver, and the weapons systems.

It was a little clunky at first, but as they started doing laps around the parking lot, weaving in between some cones they set up as obstacles, Hordak noticed that Entrapta quickly began to anticipate his movements.

Even when he stopped announcing the turns before he made them she continued to track Emily smoothly.

“You know that this means?” Entrapta said as they finished a complex series of dodging and weaving.

“What?” Hordak noted the slightly cheeky look on her face.

“We, are Drift compatible” 

Hordak raised an eyebrow slowly, he hadn’t tried to ‘drift’ with Emily, he didn’t think that was really possible with tank treads.

“Hordak!” Entrapta whined, looking frustrated at him “You haven’t seen Pacific Rim!? Guillermo Del Toro's giant robot romance masterpiece?”

“I don’t really watch a lot of fictional programs” Hordak shrugged “is it a cartoon?”

“No, it’s..” Entrapta shook her head, smiling again “Well that just means I get to watch you experience it for the first time!” she did a little twirl, already starting to plan the perfect sleepover in her head. She was sure Scorpia would love Pacific Rim as well, and she could introduce him to some of her favourite mecha anime as well, but which series of Gundam should she start him on?

Hordak smiled as Entrapta bounced in place, clearly already deep in thought.  
“If we can finish up the weapons systems, Emily might actually be ready in time for the tournament coming up in a couple of weeks”

“Tournament?” Entrapta froze

“It’s sort of a semi-pro qualifier, but there is still a rather substantial prize. It’s in the next state but it’s only a days drive” Hordak estimated the distances in his head “we could do it, might have to miss a couple of lectures though”

“Yes!” Entraptas brain was humming so loudly she thought Hordak might be able to hear it, ideas whizzing by at the speed of light “If we rig up an adjustable ballast system to compensate for differing weights and center of mass I could modify the weapons I’ve been working on into a modular system that we can switch out between fights! That way we can adjust tactics for each opponent and even if there's damage we’ll have back ups!”

Entraptas eyes were the size of dinner plates and her nose was twitching like crazy, Hordak was so busy staring, a soft cloud of affection settling over his brain that Entrapta almost knocked him over as she dived into a tight hug.

“Yes!! We can do this!” Entrapta squealed, lifting Hordak off his feet and spinning him around.

Hordak suddenly became very aware of the small crowd that had gathered to watch their robot, some of them even had phones out to take pictures.

And now there were looking at him and Entrapta. Touching, holding each other, close, far too close.

Hordak quickly pushed Entrapta away, wriggling out of her grasp and struggling to catch his breath, his chest feeling suddenly tight

“We should, clean- get stuff, back” Hordak stumbled over his words, trying not to look at the disappointed look on Entraptas face “Get everything back, we’re in the way” he grabbed as much as he could fit in his arms and rushed back to the clubroom, keeping his head down.

Entrapta followed him slowly. Feeling a little guilty.  
She understood feeling anxious in front of people, she just hadn’t noticed there was anyone else there at all.

She was also slightly concerned about how light Hordak was. Scorpia was right that he needed to eat more.

The next week went by quickly.

Entrapta was glad to notice that Hordak seemed much more relaxed and open, at least in private.

He was warm and friendly and started talking about himself a bit more. She learned that he loved historical documentaries, a passion Entrapta shared. Military biopics and movies about ancient battles were his favourite whereas she preferred those on architecture and the development of new technologies.

She even found out that he had a truly tremendous amount of half-siblings, with eight sisters and nine brothers. Though he was apparently his mother's only child.  
Entrapta found this all very fascinating, in a strange kind of way, but she didn’t press the subject.

She tried to ask him to meet her for lunch a few times, but he was always busy or studying which Entrapta found disappointing.

She wanted to introduce him to her other friends, to show them just how nice he really was.

Their work on Emily continued at an accelerated pace now that Entrapta was motivated by the thought of the tournament. There were a lot of parts that she needed to custom make for the modular weapon system, but once she got permission to use the welding equipment in the engineering labs things went smoothly.

It was an uncommonly hot Friday and Hordak and Entrapta were working on the ballasts system.

Having multiple weapons meant that the centre of gravity and forces from activating the weapon would be different for each one.

As such they needed to carefully calculate how much weight would need to be added and where it needed to be positioned to keep Emily balanced.

Entrapta was so focused on her work that she didn’t notice the door opening.

Not realising they weren’t alone until a loud voice filled the small room.  
Not yelling, but projecting like an actor, or someone used to speaking to the back of a large room.

“Hello Charity”

There was a loud crash as Hordak dropped the weights he was holding, freezing in place with a look of horrible pain on his face.

Entrapta turned around to see a man standing in the doorway.

He was large, as tall as Hordak. Wearing a completely white suit, his neck adorned with very heavy looking gold necklaces.

It was Horde Prime.

He really did look very similar to Hordak. But like someone had drained everything sweet and soft out of him. His face was all sharp angles and despite his smile, his eyes were like a sharks’. Cold, dead and hungry.

“I must say, I am very disappointed” Horde Prime sighed theatrically “I thought I would find you studying, or in the chapel. But instead you make me find you here, in this… broom closet”

“Hi-” Entraptra started to speak but Horde Primes glare silenced her instantly.  
He stared at her in a way that made her skin crawl, it felt like he was dissecting her, picking her apart like some dead, disgusting thing.

She slammed her visor down, almost bruising her nose. She had never felt a stare that made her feel so horribly sick to her stomach.

Horde Prime sighed again. It was the exact same sound as before, like a robot mimicking human interaction. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to catch you hanging around with such defectives. Flies seek filth after all.”

Entrapta glanced over at Hordak. She had never seen him look so small, hunched over, shoulders pulled inwards.

It made her chest ache.

She wanted to protect him, defend him, but he gave her a pleading look.

“Just go, please” he said quietly

“Yes, you may leave” Horde Prime waved his hand at her dismissively “I need to have a talk with my daughter”

“Hordak is-” Entrapta tried to speak again but Horde Prime boomed over her

“Hordak!?” He covered his face and leaned back as though in pain “Not even the name I bestowed upon you is good enough anymore? What punishment have I earned to have such a wretched, ungrateful child?”

Imp scurried out from under the bench and jumped into Entraptas arms, hissing at Horde Prime.

Horde Prime looked startled at the sudden appearance, a slight smile crossing his face before leering at Entrapta “Perhaps she’s not a complete waste... A woman is never more beautiful than with a child in her arms”

Hordak moved in between Entrapta and Horde Prime, his eyes fixed on the ground.

He gently pushed Entrapta towards the door, whispering softly “Go, it’s okay. I’ll… I’ll talk to you later”

Entrapta reached out to take Hordaks hand, but he flinched away from the touch.

She didn’t want to go, but she didn’t want to make things worse.

And Horde Prime was still staring at her, those sharp green eyes boring through her visor.

So she held Imp tight and left, breaking into a run without really understanding why.

She heard the door slam behind her as she ran down the corridor and then there was silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh I really didn't want to write this chapter. I don't know why I do this to myself but now you all get to suffer with me <3
> 
> Also, Battlebots fans, I'm sorry, I know the show doesn't work like this but maybe it's more popular in this universe? Anyway there are qualifying tournaments now.


	8. Entrapta Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hordak is gone.
> 
> Catra lashes out.
> 
> Entrapta doesn't know what to do.

Once she calmed down enough to think, Entrapta found herself in the library.

Hidden away in the stacks with Imp still clinging to her, chewing softly on the strap of her overalls.

“Big Brother okay?” Imp signed to her, moving his hands slowly.

Entrapta just shook her head.

She felt numb and overstimulated at the same time, as though she was watching herself from a distance.

Did she do the right thing? Hordak told her to go. But sometimes people said things they didn’t really mean.

But Hordak wasn’t like that, she tried to reassure herself. He was strong and brave and smart.  
And it was his father, his own father wouldn’t hurt him would he?

Entrapta stayed there until it started to get dark. The normally hyper Imp was quiet, content to just stay there hugging her.

She wondered if it was because he was scared. Or because he could tell how scared she was.

Eventually she took Imp to the librarian who recognised him immediately. Apparently he was often brought in as a ‘lost child’ and they promised Entrapta they would get him back to his parents.

She headed home and fell asleep holding her phone, waiting for Hordak to message her.

**SATURDAY**

Entrapta didn’t leave her room all day.

She had texted Hordak a dozen times, emailed him and even tried to call him.

No response.

She tried to distract herself, to calm down.  
Hordak had said he would contact her and he had never lied to her before.

But she couldn't stop imagining him looking so small, so helpless and in so much pain.

She should have stayed, she should have protected him.

**SUNDAY**

Still no reply from Hordak.

Entrapta couldn’t bear the silence so she got herself dressed and headed out to Hordaks house.

She didn’t care if Horde Prime was there, she needed to see Hordak and she would fight his father herself before she let him talk to Hordak that way again.

Hordaks curtains were drawn, but his car was in the driveway so she took a deep breath and knocked.

Catra had always disliked Hordak. He was rude and condescending, and he never helped with stuff around the house, probably because he thought he was better than them.

The one thing that cheered her up was the knowledge that he would always be a lonely, friendless loser. Just like her.

So when she opened the door to see Entrapta standing there something snapped in her head.

Here she was, still alone, still barely able to say a word to the girl she had been crushing on since middle school without starting a fight for no reason.  
And now Hordak had this cute, thick little geek princess swooning all over him?

She wanted to break something.

“Hi Catra” Entrapta smiled nervously “Is Hordak home? I need to talk-”

“Awwwww, yeah, sorry” Catra drawled, checking her fingernails “He told me to tell you that he doesn’t want to talk to you anymore, said something about you being a weirdo who cant take a hint and that he wants a girl who doesn't have to buy shoes from the children's section” she shrugged, giving Entrapta a fake smile “Too bad I guess”

Catra felt like shit as soon as she saw the look on Entraptas face. Slamming the door shut before she could say anything and leaning against it, sinking to the floor.

Why did she have to be like this? Entrapta hadn’t done anything to her except try to be nice.  
This was why Adora thought she was a bitch.

She tried to convince herself that Entrapta would be fine, this wasn’t a Shakespearean play, Entrapta would just text Hordak and he would call Catra an asshole and then they would go back to making robots kiss or whatever the hell they did.

Entrapta took the bus home, trying not to cry.  
Was that the real reason he wasn’t calling her back? It didn’t seem right, but she didn’t know why Catra would lie about it.

Maybe he was just upset after seeing his father and needed some ‘space’?

**MONDAY**

Entrapta didn’t take a single note in her lectures. Too busy staring out the window, scanning the students.  
It was always easy to spot Hordak, even in a crowd.

Everytime she caught sight of a flash of purple hair she felt her heart leap, but it was never him.

At the end of the day she walked slowly towards the clubroom.

She wanted him to be there. To turn to her with a smile as she walked through the door.

But the room was dark and silent. Completely empty.  
The small room somehow feeling vast in his absence.  
The space that had always felt so warm and safe, suddenly cold and unwelcoming.

She sat there, waiting until it got dark.

She couldn’t even bring herself to work on Emily. It felt wrong without Hordak there.

**TUESDAY**

Still nothing.

Entrapta felt like she was on autopilot. Like she was watching a screen from inside her own head, her body acting of its own accord as it took her through the motions of normality.

**WEDNESDAY**

Imp came back.

Entrapta tried to sign to him but he didn’t respond, just sat under the bench, hugging his alien and softly chewing its head.

She tried to start tinkering with Emily but it provided no distraction, only making her more aware of Hordaks absence.

**THURSDAY**

**FRIDAY**

Entrapta answered her phone before the first ring, pressing it to her ear.

“Hordak?”

“Oh hey Entrapta, no, it’s Scorpia”

Entrapta almost hung up straight away. What if Hordak tried to call her and it was busy?

“Is Hordak okay?” Scorpia didn’t sound like herself, not happy.

“Why would you ask me that?”

“Well, we just haven't seen him since the weekend, I thought he might be with you?”

Entrapta was confused “He didn’t… tell you to tell me anything?”

“No? He came home on saturday all freaked out, didn’t say anything and he’s been gone since then, why?.. Did Catra say something?”

“She must have been confused” Entrapta breathed deeply, she felt like she should have been relieved, that he didn’t say those things. But she was more worried than ever.

“Are you okay? You don’t sound too good, do you need help?”

Entrapta hung up. She didn’t know how to explain anything to Scorpia over the phone. She just had to find him.

She ran to the clubroom. Maybe Hordak had left her something, a message or a clue. Or maybe she could get into the Unis’ system and see if his IDcard had been used anywhere on campus, that would be harder than getting into the administrator records, but she could do it.

Her brain was spinning with so many thoughts and worries that she almost ran straight into Imp who was running in the other direction, dragging his alien behind him.

“Help Big Brother” he signed at her frantically, repeating it a few times.

“Do you know-” Entrapta stopped herself and carefully signed “Where”

He turned and started running, Entrapta close behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Entrapta doesn't like talking on the phone.  
> text or video calls are good, but just voice is difficult.
> 
> Also, I just want to say I really love Catra, I don't mean anything in here as hate on her. She's not in a healthy place at the moment. But at least she doesn't send Entrapta to Beast Island.


	9. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entrapta reunites with Hordak.  
> Hordak struggles to break free from his Fathers grasp.
> 
> WARNING: Hand Holding

Imp led Entrapta to the University chapel. A small, relatively non-denominational space near the edge of the campus, stopping her as they got to the corner.

Entrapta peeked around to see two men in white suits standing on either side of the doors, shooting hard looks at passersby.

She looked back at Imp to see the small child lifting up a grate on the side of the building and disappearing inside.

It led to some kind of old maintenance tunnel, filled with cables and pipes that smelled of ozone and dust.

Any other time Entrapta would be excited to investigate such a place, but right now she just followed Imp in.

It was a little tight on her hips, but she had enough room to crawl after him, following Imp around a couple of turns before he stopped and pointed up at another grate.

Entrapta saw Hordak as soon as she squeezed her way up and out of the tunnel.  
He was kneeling at the altar of the empty chapel, his head down.

The first thing she noticed was his hair, it had been bleached a dry, brittle looking blonde, and he was wearing some kind of plain, white dress.

“Hordak?” Entrapta said quietly, moving closer.

Hordak spun around, his face rising as he saw her “Entrapta!” then he seemed to catch himself, his face fading to blank “You shouldn’t be here”

“I’m here to save you, or help you… or something” Entrapta rushed forwards “I’ve been so worried”

“There is nothing to worry about anymore,” Hordak said quietly, looking away from Entrapta “My studies are over. I’ll be returning to the compound tonight”

“What?” Entrapta tried to keep her voice low, mindful of the men outside “No, why… Is that what you want?”

“I have to respect my Father's wishes”

“Not if he doesn’t respect you!” Entraptas hands were balled into tight fists, her arms shaking “He doesn’t own you, you’re a person, not a thing”

“He may as well own me… He’s the one paying for everything.” Hordaks shoulders were hunched, his head hanging down. He looked so limp, almost lifeless “Anything I had was from his generosity, and he can choose to take it away”

“You’re worried about money?” Entraptas felt anger rise in her chest, she couldn’t believe that Hordak was just accepting this without a fight.

“There’s no point dreaming if there is no practical way to achieve it” Hordaks voice was cold, rational. Empty.

“Fine” Entrapta drew a deep breath, if he was going to make this ‘practical’ then she would just solve it. He couldn’t argue with that. “If we win the tournament we would have enough to find a place together, I know I’m only a first year but my professors have said I could get work tutoring. And my scholarship gives me some money to help with stuff.” She grabbed Hordaks hands, forcing him to look at her “We can do this”

Hordak bit his lip, closing his eyes “I’m not going to become your burden. Just forget about me, move on.”

Entrapta stuffed her fist in her mouth to stifle a scream, stamping her feet to try and shake out her frustration.

“How can you be so selfish?” her voice cracked as she spoke, screwing up her eyes to try and stop the tears that were threatening to burst out.

“Selfish?” Hordak looked at Entrapta in shock.

“Yes! You can’t jus-... just walk into my life and make me feel all these things and then expect me to forget about you” Entraptas voice caught in her throat. She wasn’t used to such outbursts of emotion, but she was feeling so many things at once, anger, frustration, distress.  
But most of all, seeing Hordak like this just hurt.

Hordak stared at his hands. He thought this was the right thing to do, to just let her go.  
He was weak, he was… defective. Entrapta deserved someone better. He thought she would see that eventually.

But now he was causing her so much pain.  
He was making the decision for her, taking away her right to choose what she wanted.  
It didn’t matter what he thought she deserved, she had told him what she wanted.

The number of times he had been told that he was worthless. Broken. Damaged goods.  
He hadn’t thought it was possible that anyone would ever really want him.

“Please don’t go” Entrapta sniffled quietly, falling to her knees. The tears were flowing now, fast and messy.

Hordak didn’t know what else to do, so he just hugged her.

They held each other for a while. Entrapta clinging to him tightly, burying her face in his chest.

“I don’t want to leave you” Hordak whispered “I don’t want to lose this… what we have”

“Then fight for it” Entrapta wiped her eyes “Don’t let him tell you what to do”

“There are men outside…” Hordak glanced at the doors “They’re not going to let me leave”

Entrapta considered for a moment, then pulled out her phone and sent Scorpia a text.

[Need help rescuing Hordak. In Chapel. Please come quickly]

Her phone started ringing immediately and Entrapta groaned. Why did she need to call? All the pertinent information was in the message.

“Entrapta!” Scorpia sounded like she was running “Are you okay?”

“I am okay” Entrapta replied, placing the phone on the floor and putting it on speaker “But we require assistance”

“You sounded really weird before so I was coming to find you, I’ll be there in a few minutes!”

“Thank you” Entrapta replied happily and hung up, smiling at Hordak “She was worried about you as well.”

“I don’t understand why… I’ve never really done anything for her”

“Because she's your friend”

Entrapta made it sound so simple.  
Hordak had thought it would be easy to disappear. He hadn’t considered that anyone would really miss him.

A few minutes later they heard some loud shouts outside, followed by a couple of crashes and a thud that made the wall of the chapel shake slightly.

Scorpia threw the doors open, red faced and out of breath “Entrapta! Hordak!” she ran to grab them both in a crushing hug “There were some guys outside, they didn’t want me to come in but I think they’re okay”

“Thankyou Scorpia” Hordak wheezed, trying to escape Scorpias’ grip.

“Catra is outside in her pickup” Scorpia panted, finally letting them both go “We should probably go before someone finds those guys”

Hordak straightened his dress, taking a deep breath “We need to get some things from our lab first” he smiled at Entrapta “We have a tournament to win”

“Wait, one more thing” Entrapta ran over to the grate, where Imp was peeking out, watching them. She dug out the stash of candy that she had started carrying in her pockets and pressed it into his hands.

Hordak crouched down beside her and signed quickly “Thankyou. Be good, we have to go, but we will be back. I promise”

Imp let out a little squeak, his arms full of candy and nodded before popping down into the tunnel.

They rushed past the prone bodies of Hordaks guards and down to the clubroom, Scorpia helping them carry everything they needed over to the parking lot where Catra was waiting.

“Heeeey, Hordak, looking good” Catra drawled, leaning out the window of her truck.

Hordak gave her a quick glare.  
She was participating in his ‘rescue’ so he supposed he couldn’t be too rude.

“No, I mean it, it’s very ‘roman senator’. So where are we going?”

“Home” Hordak said curtly “I don’t have my keys, but that doesn’t matter”

“Oooohhhh are we going to hotwire your car?” Entrapta asked, jumping in the back “Can I do it? Please?”

Catra peeled out as soon as they were all in, driving a little too fast for Hordaks liking.

“Ahh, actually your cars gone” Scorpia said apologetically “We didn’t see who took it, I just thought it was you”

Hordak groaned, pulling his hair in frustration “Maybe we can take a bus?”

“Just take the truck, your shits already in the back. Just don’t crash it” Catra growled

“Are you sure?” Hordak looked at Catra in surprise.

“Yes! Maybe I owe you one, just don’t get mushy about it”

“I had no intention to do so” Hordak folded his arms, looking out the window.

Catra got out as soon as they got to the house, tossing Hordak the keys.

They all headed inside, Hordak rushing off to his room to change and grab some clothes.

Scorpia was apparently ‘bulking’ so she had a bunch of prepared meals that she insisted Entrapta take with them. Carefully packing them into a small cooler.

Catra approached Entrapta as she was checking everything in the back was secured properly.

“Hey.”

“Hey” Entrapta turned and smiled “Thankyou, for helping us”

“You don’t have to be so nice” Catra put her hands in her pockets, looking at the ground “It’s okay if you want to yell at me, or hit me or something”

“Why would I want to do that?” Entrapta cocked her head in confusion

“Because of that shit I said!”

Entrapta nodded slowly “That wasn’t very nice. But I do appreciate your assistance. And I would still like to be your friend in the future”

“Cool” Catras voice caught in her throat a little and she quickly turned her back on Entrapta, rubbing her face “Good luck, with your nerd thing”

Hordak didn’t take long to change into something more comfortable and soon they were on the road.

They drove until the sun sank below the horizon, the sun fading from blue to orange to black. Only taking a couple of breaks to eat and use the bathroom.

Entrapta tried to keep Hordak awake by discussing Emilys’ readiness, she had finished the housing for the ballast system, but they would have to calculate the weights on the fly.

She needed have worried about it though, Hordaks heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of his chest and he had never felt so focused in his life.

He felt so alive, terrified, but alive.

He had disobeyed his father. Escaped his ‘custody’ and was on the run.

Part of him had always assumed that if he ever disobeyed Horde Prime he would be struck down instantly by a bolt from the sky. His commandments were so absolute, and the fear Hordak felt was so strong, it was as if his words came from God themself.

But he had done it. The sky hadn’t fallen. And now he was speeding off towards an unknown future, the person he cared most about in this world at his side.

Despite all this, it was past midnight by the time they arrived at the city, and the adrenaline was starting to wear off.

They needed to find someplace to stay.

Hordak didn’t have any money on him, or any way of paying for anything.  
Entraptas funds were quite limited, but luckily she lived very frugally and had a small amount of saving gathered.

A few google searches for “really cheap 24 hour hotels” later, they arrived at a small, run down motel.

The desk was staffed by a bored looking woman who seemed to be half asleep, not noticing them until Hordak hit the bell.

“Hello” Entrapta stood on her tiptoes to see over the counter “We would like a room please”

The woman yawned and then took a double take at Entrapta, regarding Hordak suspiciously “How old are you kid?”

“I’m twenty one” Entrapta put her ID on the counter, trying not to look too annoyed. She hated it when people treated her like a child, but she had found that pouting only seemed to make it worse “One room please”

The woman examined Entraptas ID for a few minutes before sighing and taking Entraptas card, giving her a sheet of paper to sign.  
“Here’s your key. There's no room service so don’t bother calling, there's bug spray in the minifridge.”

“Um, could we get a room with two beds?” Hordak interrupted, earning another glare.

“You get what you got” The woman leaned back in her chair, putting her feet up “You can complain, but if you could afford somewhere better you wouldn’t be here”

Hordak opened his mouth to protest but just sighed. He was far too tired to argue, and she wasn’t wrong.

They carried their bags up to the room, hoping the insides of the motel would be cleaner than its exterior.

“Its funny” Hordak said to Entrapta “I thought you were younger than me”

“Hmmmmm” Entrapta grumbled, still feeling a little annoyed.

“Did you take a gap year?”

“No” Entrapta pulled an awkward face. “I guess it is a little funny. I was held back in elementary school”

“What?!” Hordak almost fell over in shock “I don’t believe you”

“It’s true!” Entrapta laughed “I already knew everything they were talking about, and I wasn’t very good at communicating, so I was… Disruptive”

Hordak shook his head slowly. He could imagine how disruptive a bored young Entrapta could have been.

“I didn’t do the work and I didn’t want to read the baby books, so they thought I was slow”

Hordak bridled at the thought of someone insulting Entrapta so “I’d like to have a talk with those fools”

“It’s okay” Entrapta giggled at Hordaks expression of outrage “They just didn’t have the time to understand. I got a good teacher eventually, they helped a lot”

Hordak didn’t say anything more, just basking in the glow of Entraptas cheerful expression.

He wished he could be more like her. So bold and proud.

She had no shame for who she was. No guilt for not fitting in with how other people thought she should be.

The room was small but thankfully clean.  
It had a bed, a tiny bathroom and an ancient looking CRT TV that made Entrapta squeal with glee.

“What a relic!” Entrapta gushed, running over to rub her face on the screen “ooohhhhhh… I love that staticy feeling”

Hordak tried not to laugh, digging through their bags for his pajamas “Should I be feeling jealous?”

“Of course not!” Entrapta looked offended until she realised he was teasing “Can’t you feel the nostalgia? The crackle? The humm? The… slight burning smell?”

“We didn’t have TV growing up… Too much ‘deviant programming’. I didn’t see one until I came to university”

Entrapta was silent for a moment. Hordak sometimes said things so matter of factly that it made her worried. She really couldn't comprehend just how different his childhood must have been to hers.

She hoped that they could talk about it one day.

Entrapta left the TV to give Hordak a hug “After this, we are going to stay inside for a week and watch TV all day, there are so many shows and movies I know you’ll love”

Hordak patted Entraptas head gently “I’ll watch anything you like, but right now we need to sleep”

“I can sleep on the floor,” Entrapta said, moving to check the room for any extra blankets.

“Don’t be silly, we can share, I don’t take up much space.” Hordak headed to the bathroom to get changed “and we both need to be well rested for tomorrow.”

When Hordak returned, Entrapta had changed into one of his hoodies.  
He noted with some satisfaction that she looked much better in it than Scorpias’ shirt.

Hordak flopped down on the bed and was about to get comfy when Entrapta stopped him.

“Feet” She said, crouching down to remove his prosthetics.

Hordak sighed, but he appreciated it. Allowing Entrapta to gently remove them.

Sitting in the car for so long had left his legs feeling numb, but there was a distinct feeling of relief as she loosened the straps.

“Thankyou” he yawned, rolling over and moving to the edge of the bed to give Entrapta plenty of room.

Entrapta turned off the lights and climbed in behind him, shuffling over to curl up against his back.  


The sheets were far too light, but his presence was comforting. She could feel his warmth, the soft beating of his heart.  
She thought she felt it skip a little faster as she cuddled up to him but she couldn’t be sure.

She gently peeled off her gloves and put them aside, putting her arm around Hordak and taking his hand.

She felt him shiver a little as their bare skin touched, but he didn’t pull away.

His skin felt rough and almost electric, making her breath quicken.

She gently entwined her fingers with his, feeling the smooth little ridges of scars from where he had nicked himself while working.

It was a lot. She felt like she could feel every pore, every tiny hair. But it wasn’t unwelcome.

It was dark and quiet, everything else fading away as her fingertips gently mapped Hordaks skin.

“Entrapta” Hordak whispered softly

Entrapta hummed, tracing the lines of his palm. She wanted to know him, to chart his surface like some heavenly body.

“I… The way I feel about you.” Hordak struggled to get the words out “I’ve never felt anything like this before”

Entrapta pulled Hordak closer, feeling his heart racing against her chest, letting her lips brush the back of his neck “I love you too”


	10. Emancipation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hordak gets a Costume Change.
> 
> Entrapta and Hordak engage in a robot powered battle for the future! Or at least a small down payment on it.

Entrapta woke up tangled in Hordaks lanky limbs.  
He was curled around her, his head resting on her shoulder.

It was a little uncomfortable being held in place, but she didn’t mind it too much.  
Normally, being unable to stretch out would make her feel anxious, but she felt quite calm and safe.

It was very peaceful, just lying there, listening to his breathing.

She went to run her hands through his hair but it felt all dry and gross from the bleach.

She made a mental note to get some hair dye and some appropriate conditioner. It made her feel irrationally angry to see the physical mark of Horde Primes influence still on Hordak.

Entrapta gently wormed her way out of Hordaks grasp, her frustration overriding her contentment with the need for movement and distraction.

Hordak woke a short while later.  
His butt was still a little sore from all the driving, but otherwise he had slept remarkably well, his dreams thankfully free of his father.

“Time?” he mumbled groggily.

Entrapta was sitting on the floor, running some diagnostics on Emily. “Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time before we need to get to the tournament. But I’m glad you’re awake, there are some things I need to get first”

“Parts for Emily?” Hordak asked, sitting up and retrieving his legs.

“No, for me” Entrapta pointed at her underwear, draped over the bedside table. “Those are gross now, and there's no washing machine,” she looked at Hordak sternly “I cannot operate efficiently with gross underwear”

Hordak chastised himself internally for not being more thoughtful and giving Entrapta the chance to stop at her house before they left, he had been so caught up in his own need to get as far from his father as possible.

“It’s alright” Entrapta gave Hordak a reassuring smile “it’s not presently debilitating, though I do require a certain amount of support to avoid discomfort. There’s a mall nearby, we can go as soon as you’re ready”

Hordak was a little surprised at how easily Entrapta had read his discomfort. He knew it wasn’t her strong suit.

Then again, he considered how much attention he paid to all her little quirks and mannerisms. How much he loved watching her expressions when she was thinking or excited.

He supposed she might have been paying equally close attention to him, though that concept made him feel a little embarrassed and self conscious.

Hordaks face flushed as he realised Entrapta was still looking at him, regarding him softly with a little smile.

“You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed” She cooed, clasping her hands.

Hordak tried not to smile like an idiot, cute wasn’t exactly the look he was going for, but he didn’t mind it coming from her.

Hordak got dressed and they ate the rest of the food Scorpia had packed for them before they headed out.

Entrapta was full of enthusiasm and excitement, but Hordak could feel a wave of anxiety creeping over him as they got outside.  
His father would be well aware of his disobedience by now and he kept expecting to see him or one of his white suited followers around every corner.

He found himself ducking his head every time he saw someone with a phone out or taking a picture.  
He knew his father had people who constantly cyberstalked him and his siblings, making sure that they didn’t establish any kind of social media presence that might affect his precious image.

Hordak had the suspicion that had been the cause of his father's sudden return. He hadn’t been careful enough.  
Someone might have shared a photo with him and Entrapta in it from Mysta-Con or at the University.

It made him sad to think that just seeing him looking happy would have been enough to incur his father's wrath.  
He had honestly tried to make his father proud, to prove that he could be worthy of his love despite all his flaws.

But now he realised that had never been possible.  
His father didn’t really see him as a person, and the only value he had to him was in the potential creation of more little Primes for him to shape in his image.

“Is there anything you need?” Entrapta piped up, distracting him from his thoughts.

“No, no I am adequate prepared”

“You should get something, a souvenir! Of our first trip together!”

Hordak hummed uncertainly, just deciding to sit down and wait for Entrapta to do her shopping.

His head was still filled with thoughts of his father. He couldn’t run from him forever and he didn’t think that he would give up.

Their first trip together could end up being their last.

And if his father got his way, he’d be married off to some creep and have six children before he was thirty.

He caught a glimpse of himself in one of the store's mirrors.  
He was dressed the way he always did, baggy shapeless clothes, hiding his body as much as possible, coving up his shame, his weakness.

Hordak felt a flare of anger building in his chest.  
If this was going to be his last chance at freedom he could at least be himself.

He didn’t want to have to hide anymore, not around Entrapta.  
He didn’t care if people saw his scars or his legs. If Entrapta thought his flaws were beautiful, maybe he could feel that way one day too.

And in the meantime, he could at least look good.

It was always a bit difficult for Entrapta to find what she needed. She had a reasonably large bust and her habit of bouncing and jumping around meant that she required very supportive bras.  
But she found a comfortable sports bra eventually and headed back to find Hordak, hoping he hadn’t gotten too bored waiting for her.

Entrapta felt herself flush all the way to her ears as soon as she saw him.  
Hordak was wearing a sleeveless black turtleneck and rather tight shorts, his jacket hanging off his shoulders like a cape.

“Hey” Hordak smiled at her a little nervously and she felt her face heating up even more “Do I look alright?”

Entrapta gave Hordak a thumbs up, her brain having trouble processing words.

“It's causing a definite physical reaction,” Entrapta said after a few seconds, half expecting herself to spring a nosebleed like an anime character.

Hordak smiled, trying not to look too smug, but Entrapta could tell from the way he puffed his chest out that he was feeling particularly pleased with himself.

Entrapta linked her arm through his, making a mental note to investigate this phenomenon further at a later date. “Ready to disassemble some robots? Partner?”

“They will regret the day they were foolish enough to oppose us” Hordak growled in his best villain voice.

“Oooohhh, that works for me to!” Entrapta giggled gleefully “We’re learning so much today”

The Tournament was to be held in a large exhibition hall, a portion of which was set apart for the participating teams to use as workspaces.

Entrapta and Hordak made their way though the sign-in area and found themselves a spot near the edge of the workspaces. Entrapta focused on setting up their gear and making sure everything was functioning while Hordak surveyed their competition.

It was a single-elimination tournament, so they had to be careful, one mistake could knock them out of the running, and even a victory with Emily taking too much damage could lead to defeat.

Technically the judges would rate all the competitors on various metrics as well as style, flair and spectacle value. But Hordak wanted to WIN. He wanted to leave their opponents smoking wrecks, leaving no argument to the superiority of their creation.

Emily was more than just a robot, she was a symbol of their bond, of all the work they had done together. And of his hope, for freedom, a future that he could look forward to.

He didn’t care so much about the money. He’d already decided he wasn’t going back, no matter what, he would do whatever it took.  
But it would certainly help.

Entrapta had included earplugs and earmuffs for herself in their gear, there was no way she would be able to focus in the noise of the shouting crowd otherwise. But it meant they wouldn’t be able to communicate verbally.

Still, Hordak trusted her completely. He just had to focus on tactics and maneuvering, she would take care of the rest.

Their first two matches were easy, the opposing bots more hobby projects than real weapons.

Hordak almost felt bad destroying them, though Entrapta had no such reservations, cackling in glee as Emily shredded her opponents.

Things started to get tough in the third round where they won narrowly against a heavily armored bot equipped with compressor powered stakes.

Hordak managed to keep them out of range of the weapons while Entrapta ground down its side plating with their drum grinder, eventually taking out its wheels and disabling it.

In the next fight they had a high speed duel with a buzzsaw bot, taking some serious damage to Emily's dorsal plates before jamming its weapon and taking it out.

Hordak was completely up in the intensity of the situation.  
The mad rush to patch and adjust between fights, Entrapta working like a demon to switch out the weapon systems and calculate the counterweights by eye.  
Then the nerve wracking fury of the battle, pressing up against the plexiglass as though sheer force of will could make Emily move faster.

It came as a complete shock when he realised they were at the final fight. It had felt like barely an hour had passed but the sun was setting outside and he suddenly began to feel the dull ache throbbing through his body.

Their opponent was a professionally built bot, a winner of previous competitions.

“They even have sponsors” Entrapa whined, craning her neck to try and get a better look at their final opponent “It is very well constructed though… Do you think they’d let me have a look inside?”

“Probably not” Hordak sighed, sitting down on the floor to try and get a quick breather “What weapon are we going to use?”

“The Drill” Entrapta said quickly, turning back to him.

The Drill was the prize jewel of Entraptas’ weapon collection. It was a huge, chunky thing that Entrapta had ‘borrowed’ from the engineering department, diamond tipped and made for heavy industrial applications.

Hordak tried not to think about how much it probably cost.

“Are you sure?” he asked “They’ve got a really powerful crusher, I don’t think we should get close”

“The Drill!” Entrapta repeated with emphasis “This is the time! Emily took a lot of damage in the last fight and it could interfere with the energy transfer, we need to win this quickly”

Hordak nodded “I trust you”

Entrapta leapt into action, starting to switch out the components before stopping and looking back at Hordak “And… Hordak, even if we lose…”

Hordak reached out and cupped her cheek gently, his heart melting as she leaned into the touch “I’m not going anywhere, win or lose. Failure is just a chance to learn for next time remember?”

Entrapta let out an unintelligible noise and pulled him into a tight hug.

“The final match will begin in five minutes!” the intercom system boomed, making Entrapta leap off Hordak with a yell, planting a quick kiss on his cheek before getting back to frantically switching over the weapon.

They barely made it to the box in time, getting Emily in place as the countdown began.

The most dangerous part of their opponent was the front. Hordak assumed their opponents would expect him to avoid it. But they only had one shot at a killing blow.

As soon as the lights went green Hordak floored it, sending Emily straight at their opponent, Entrapta already spinning up the drill.

They slammed straight into the front of the enemy bot. Emily’s tracks meant she was a little slower than some of the other bots, but she had more traction and more pushing power, forcing the drill straight through their opponents armor.

The Crusher started to descend as sparks flew. The hydraulic system was slow, but Hordak knew it had enough power to tear Emily in half.

He squeezed his eyes shut as it reached the top of Emily's chassis, buckling the already damaged plate. Unable to watch the impending carnage.

He opened them again as he heard Entrapta squealing with glee.  
The Crusher had stopped, stuck in place, flames spouting from the bot as the drill continued to shred it’s internals.

“You did it” Hordak felt light headed, almost unable to believe it.

“We did it!” Entrapta grabbed his around the waist, picking him up and spinning him around.

“Need to sit down!” Hordak gasped, now feeling very very dizzy.

“Sorry!” Entrapta squeaked, shifting to hold him more carefully and carrying him over to a nearby chair.

“Thank you” Hordak was feeling too giddy to be embarrassed, collapsing happily into the chair “how’s Emily?”

“She’s taken a real beating, but I think her internals are intact, I’ll have to run a full diagnostic to know for sure”

“Good” Hordak leant back in the chair, closing his eyes and trying to finally catch his breath.

Entrapta ran off to collect Emily and their gear, coming back a few minutes later with the announcer and a man with a camera.

“Hey son, we’d just like to grab a quick bit of footage for the stream, you up to it?” The announcer beamed a set of overly bright teeth at Hordak.

Go on camera? Looking like this? Hordak almost laughed, maybe that alone would be enough to make his father disown him.

“Sure” Hordak sat up straight, pushing back his hair.

“So, Hordak right? Is this your girlfriend?” The announcer moved to get them both in frame.

“Oh… ah…” Hordak squirmed, not expecting a question like that.

“YES!” Entrapta yelled, jumping forwards to put her face right in front of the camera “I’m Entrapta Dryl!! HI MOM! HI DAD! I told you building kill-bots was a legitimate career path!”

The announcer and cameraman took a little while to wrangle the excited Entrapta, asking them both a few more simple questions before thanking them and moving on, reminding them that the trophy ceremony would be in about an hour.

Glad to finally have a moment of peace Hordak tried to make himself as comfortable as possible, settling down in the chair and listening to Entrapta as she started cataloging Emily's damage.

“Are you happy Charity?”

Hordak almost fell out of the chair, snapping upright to see his father walking towards him, a fake smile plastered across his face, his eyes furious.

“Was it worth it? This little ‘rebellion’? I hope so, because my patience for you has officially, run out”

Entrapta leapt to her feet, grabbing a wrench and moving in front of Hordak, but he put out an arm to stop her, slowly pushing himself to his feet.

“Is this what you really want? Playing with toys and dressing like a who-”

“SHUT UP!!” Hordak bellowed, his voice filling the entire hall “Just! SHUT UP!” he took a deep breath, stepping towards his father “And yes! Yes it is actually. This!” he waved his arms around wildly “This makes me happy! But you wouldn’t know anything about that would you? You bitter old curmudgeon!”

“I am your father!” Horde Prime roared, lowering his voice as he glanced around to see people staring at them “You can’t speak to me that way, you owe me everything!”

“You did the bare minimum to keep me alive! That's not generosity! That's the absolute least you could do!” Hordak was shaking, anger that had been deep inside him for so long finally pouring out “I am not your daughter. My name is Hordak, and you have no hold over me anymore”

Hordak took a deep breath, loving his voice to a vicious hiss “You took Mom, and you ground her soul into dust. Then you made her hate herself so much that she couldn’t take it anymore… I’m not going to let you do the same to me”

“You spoilt brat” Horde Prime hissed back “You have no idea what you are doing, I gave you so much, but I can also make your life hell”

“You come near me, or anyone I know, I’ll go straight to the IRS, the FBI, every DAMN news station in the country!” Hordak threw out the ‘curse word’ with particular satisfaction “I know all your dirty laundry remember”

Horde Prime flinched back like he had been hit.

“No need to watch what you say around little _‘Charity’_ “ Hordak said mockingly “She’s just a cripple, doesn’t understand a thing”

Hordak sat back down in the chair, breathing heavily “You may go now. We’re done”

Horde Prime ground his teeth, his eyes twitching with anger as he turned his back on them, striding away “You’ll regret this, you’ll come crawling back, wait and see”

Hordak just laughed, all the anger and tension flowing out of him.

“I still want to hit him,” Entrapta said, glaring after him, still holding the wrench.

“Just leave him, he doesn’t mean anything to either of us now.” Hordak reached over to take her hand “We won, all that's left is to get our trophy and go home, together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it, final appearance of Horde Prime (Good Riddance).  
> I've never been good at ending stories, but I feel that this is nearly it. I hope it is almost as satisfying as it has been to write all this this <3
> 
> Next Chapter is going to be a short epilogue, and I might end up doing a few semi-unconnected drabbles just because I love these two so much and I've been having fun with this little universe.
> 
> If anyone is interested, here's a short playlist with some of the tracks I've been listening to while writing this
> 
> [Super Rad Entrapdak Playlist](https://soundcloud.com/sound-crow/sets/entrapdak/s-eAxmZsWSk36)
> 
> (Please don't judge my taste in music ;__;)


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the end, and we are beginning

The first thing Entrapta did after getting Hordak back to the motel to rest was go buy some hair dye.

Then the two of them squeezed into the tiny bathroom to fix Hordaks hair before lounging around on the bed and watching the slightly fuzzy TV for the rest of the day.

They took their time on the drive back, taking breaks here and there to stretch their legs and wander around. Savouring the sense of peace and lack of urgency.

When they got home Entrapta was overjoyed to find her inbox full of various sponsorship offers for their team from various local companies.  
Including one from the University that also asked if she knew anything about the engineering departments missing drill…

They considered starting to look for a small apartment together, but when Scorpia started crying after Hordak told her they were leaving, Entrapta just decided to move in with them instead.

Entrapta was able to find some work tutoring and proofreading and Hordak started making some extra money by doing custom PC builds in his spare time.

Hordak dropped the Bachelor of Divinity he had been studying for, a vain attempt to elevate himself to the level of his brothers in his father's eyes.

For a while he felt a bit lost and directionless, but after a couple of his half-siblings reached out to him, asking for advice on how to leave their ‘family’, he decided to sign up for a Certificate in Youth Work. Looking to get into helping other young people with similar experiences to him, trapped in abusive or intolerant situations.

Entrapta eventually managed to introduce Hordak to her other friends, and while they were not exactly excited about it, they did stop calling him lemon boy.

Hordak understood their hesitance, he had been less than friendly in the past.

The shame that was so deeply ingrained in him had made it very difficult to know how to act around people who were not just openly Queer but apparently proud of it.

Entrapta was determined to help him make some more friends, dragging him along to gatherings and, most embarrassingly, loudly extolling his virtues to anybody who would listen.

But things slowly got easier and he found himself beginning to become more relaxed and confident around other people. Slowly letting go of all the chains of guilt and self doubt that had held him down for so long.

They even met Imps dads eventually, a lovely pair of professors, one a rather forgetful History teacher and the other a high spirited Art teacher who was adamant that their sun be allowed to run free and express his creativity.

They were overjoyed that Imp had made such close friends and ended up often inviting the couple over for dinner, even giving Hordak some fatherly advice when he needed it.

There were still times that Hordak woke up from nightmares, imagining himself back in his fathers clutches.  
But Entrapta was always there beside him, to calm and center him, reminding him that he was free.

Most of all, they were happy.  
Far happier than Hordak thought he would ever have a right to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much again to everyone who has left comments and kudos, you all gave me the spoons to keep going and write this <3
> 
> If theres any plot holes I've missed or questions I haven't answered, please leave a comment and I'll try and wrap it up :)


End file.
